Heart of the Wasteland
by C.M.Amell
Summary: Mya is the Builder and sometimes it takes a while for people to see she's not just special because the Goddess chose her. Too bad sometimes they also hurt her in the process too. Maybe her next destination will change things... A more mature reinterpretation of chapter 3 (and very end of chapter 2) of the Dragon Quest Builders 1 game. Female Builder x Maxi
1. Prologue

Amid a sea of poison, dead trees and roaming twisted creatures, was a small town filled with wooden structures covered in bright red roofs that were protected by stone walls overlaid in ivy. Immediately surrounding it was lush green foliage; a stark contrast to the valley. Sitting in between the lively vegetation and the poisonous swamp, was a circular river of crystal clear water. It was obvious this water is what kept the plant life around the town alive. Against the dark and dreary landscape, the town was like a bright symbol of hope, a place of refuge in a world that tried so hard to destroy you. This place had become a beacon to the poor souls of these lands. This wasn't some pretense either, and Mya knew it.

There, north of the town, up on a cliff, was a woman standing alone. She wasn't just any ordinary woman though, but any passerby might guess that. Between her appearance and the fact that she stood amongst monsters with clearly no fear for her life, it was obvious she was different. As a gentle breeze began to blow during that early sunrise, her hair softly flowed with it. Partly pull back by a red hair scarf, she was wearing an odd looking tool on her head that had two short cylinders with glass on the top. She mentioned once to someone that they were called "goggles". Her long white hair fell far passed her shoulders and looked like strands of silver dancing with the breeze as the sun crept higher over the horizon. Her ashen eyes pierced the landscape, as she stared down toward the town of Rimuldar. Most people made note immediately about her looks, but once they realized she was the Builder, they must have simply assumed that had something to do with her unique appearance. Not many would question the appearance of a scion of the Goddess.

Looking out over her creation, she sighed heavily.

'What was this now? Month seven? Eight?,' she thought, ' There are still so many things I could do to improve Rimuldar further...'

Of course, she knew better than that. She knew that despite being able to build until the swamp was restored and the poison removed, she couldn't stay forever. There were others like the people of Rimuldar, people who needed help and wanted to fight back against the darkness. But unlike Rimuldar, or even Cantlin, she hadn't come to push back against the overwhelming forces of the Dragonlord. She hadn't taught them how to build and take back the power of creation that was stolen from them so long ago. She knew she couldn't stay but she knew her goals were the same as the people here. There was no reason to feel her work would go unfinished.

Thinking back on her journey to this point, Mya realized her power wasn't just to build the world back up from the evil that engulfed it. No, her power infused the people of Alefgard with the ability to fight back. Knowing if she stayed here, her fight to bring hope would end and many others would likely be lost. The Dragonlord had his minions to wreck havoc, of course, to hurt and slaughter the people, but it was the sheer level of despair that damaged so much more. By moving on she could stop it, she could help even more people fight and bring back the light.

'TCH...' she couldn't help but vocalize her irritation, "no, clearly I'm NOT a hero." She finally turned from the view of the swamp and found herself facing a brilliant and beautiful pillar of light. She glared at it. Only mere yards away, the intense magic pouring from the ground beckoned her. This land, no longer clouded by darkness, had the Goddess's blessing once again. With no more interference, the magic needed to make the portal work was flowing once more. That portal was her doorway to the next group of poor souls desperately holding out. It was wherever the Goddess would take her next on her journey to restore Alefgard.

Yet she wasn't thrilled to step into the portal. For one, the trip to her next destination wouldn't be... painless. Despite the welcoming glow and warmth emitting from the portal, the trip was going to cost her, and she wasn't even sure what she truly lost when it happened. If the journey from Cantlin to Rimuldar was anything to go by, (and it was) it would tear around her ripping away her belongings and wrack her body with pain until she fainted. Her greatest fear wasn't the loss of equipment or even the pain she would have to endure. What she feared was actually how much time she lost while traveling through the light. There was no indication that the portal was instant. Unlike the portals she restore for local island travel near Rimuldar, she didn't stay conscious, so the passage of time was lost to her. It might be 5 minutes or 5 weeks, or even 5 months but she would wake up and have no real way of knowing. To top it off, it was a one-way trip, there was no turning back once she stepped in.

Coincidentally, her greatest fear was also her greatest motivation. If she truly lost time, the more time she stayed here, the less likely she would show up in time to help the people of the next land. She knew she couldn't postpone any longer. Leaving her newly liberated town in capable hands, there wasn't much to be worried about. She left proper defenses and even made sure they would be well supplied even with the expected influx of new arrivals. Yes, it could function independent of her presence, especially so with the Hades Condor dead. It was time, she needed to continue on.

She sighed heavily, "it's now or never, and besides I was never good at good-byes anyway." She had left just before dawn so she could avoid people from town so her exit could be as quiet as possible. She began to walk toward the pillar of magic. As she approached, she swiftly moved up a short stair case atop a platform where the light swirled. Stopping just short of the portal, she gazed into it hoping more lives could be saved than lost.

"Mya!"

She didn't move. That voice was easily recognizable at almost all distances. Turning and forcing a smile, "Elle! What are you doing up here?" She didn't answer. In fact, her face was rather stoic even for Elle. She simply stared for a few moments. Mya thought maybe she was taking in the majesty of the portal since she was someone who very deeply revered the Goddess, Rubiss. It was also possible Elle wasn't sure what she wanted to say, Mya knew she probably wasn't happy about the silent departure, but Mya couldn't quite read her today.

"I take it that's not some normal portal? You won't just come back in a day or two after some exploration, will you?" Elle's face hadn't changed. She was still but Mya knew she was fighting back emotions. Mya also knew she didn't need to answer any of Elle's questions. Elle was stalling. She was trying to think of what to say, so she hoped asking might buy her a little time.

"You know Elle, you and Rimuldar are going save everyone here," Mya's smile now becoming genuine. "I have no doubt as people come to you in hopes of being healed and finding refuge, you will be a bright and wonderful light guiding them." Mya turned to face the portal once again. "WAIT! Wait! Please just one more moment. I... I... I just wanted you to stay and I wanted to continue to helping the way we've already helped so many but... I know that's selfish of me...", Elle had slightly lost her composure.

Mya turned halfway back toward Elle and smiled again, "I didn't think you were capable of being selfish." Mya chuckled a bit knowing Elle had sacrificed everything and risked her life to save the people of Rimuldar, so seeing her like this was amusing. Being a nun and one who wholly devoted herself to the Goddess, she was usually composed and able to keep her emotions under control. Then there were times she would allow herself to be caught up in the moment and then realizing it, she would backtrack accepting whatever was most appropriate. "I know that selfishness is a sin and I know that there are many more people out that that need you more than we do."

Elle glanced down for just a moment, almost as if to steel herself. "Thank you for everything you've done. We wouldn't be here, if it wasn't for you, Mya. I pray the Goddess blesses you on your journey to push back the darkness and save humanity. I pray she keeps you safe. Here, I have something for you." She stepped toward Mya and handed her a small trinket. Mya smiled and held it tight, there was a good chance this wasn't going to make it but she wanted to keep it close for right now and hoped that it might.

Turning back to the light, "Elle, stay safe and help as many people as you can." Mya stepped into the bright magic...

It was as if time around her froze and she heard a voice. It was familiar. It was gentle yet powerful. It was Rubiss, Goddess and Spirit of the Land. "My child, you have done well. A new land awaits you. The people of Kol need you in their fight against the darkness. They are inspired by your actions and have already taken up arms against the Dragonlord. But I fear they will be overtaken and the forces of the Dragonlord may be too much for them to withstand. Please my child, go forth and save the people of Kol."

Just as quickly as time seemed to stop, it started again. The light she stood in swirled around her. Mya felt the warmth of the light engulf her body and her feet leave support of the platform. She couldn't say why exactly, but she knew this was going to worse than her trip from Cantlin. Bracing her body, the magics tore around her. She could she only see darkness beyond the streams of light that encased her. It was like a hurricane bottled around her and she couldn't do anything but endure it's wrath. She felt her hammer and sword rip away first. The belts snapped like string. Next was her bag, it pulled away, almost cutting into her skin on her neck. Then, it snapped too. The light chainmail she crafted and wore over her clothing, twisted and pulled as if each link was being stretch away from her. She felt the small snaps of the chain as pieces flew off.

As more of her possessions began to disappear, the torrent of the magic began to whip against her body instead. It hurt. The magic was no longer warm and inviting, now it was ripping against her skin and spinning her into oblivion. There was no sense of direction. Up, down, north, south, none of those things made sense to her in this state. As the pain built up, her thoughts became more clouded. She clutched the trinket given to her by Elle, but she wasn't she how much longer she could hold out. Just as the pain was reaching a boiling point, Mya lost consciousness.

...


	2. Chapter 1 - Ruins

*cough* *cough* 'wha- what... where am I?'

Mya was laying face down on some type of cool, smooth surface. It wasn't comfortable but compared to the heat she felt in the air, the ground felt nice. She was groggy and couldn't quite move. As she slowly woke up, she felt a slight lightening in the weight of her body. The Goddess was reaching out to her again. She managed to stand and before she could even begin to take in her surrounding, that familiar voice echoed in her head.

'My child, I am glad to see you have awoken. You have finally arrived in the land of Kol. You stand in a wasteland, a land once filled with beautiful forests and wildlife, now barren and stripped of it's essence. The people of Kol have heard of the victories against the darkness in Cantlin and Rimuldar and taken up arms in an effort to fight back. But my child, without your succor, they have been pushed back, they cannot hold against the Dragonlord's minions alone.'

Mya's sight focused as she looked around taking in the desert. She tried to imagine it once as a forest. This was wrong, and the Dragonlord would pay for this. He would pay for destroying another beautiful land and it's people. Mya was filled with resolve as she took in more of her surroundings. She didn't understand his reasons, but she didn't care. She would return the land to the Goddess and her people.

'Take this, ' a large flag materialized at her feet, 'the Banner of Hope. Head west to the remains of the village of Kol. Place it so that my people might see the light and come to you. Know that as you wonder these wastes, I watch over you, my child.'

And just as quickly as the voice came, it was gone. West? If anything ever seemed to survive these trips it was her compass. She looked down, wondering what she managed to arrive in. She always secretly hoped she wouldn't arrive naked but with how intense those trips were becoming, she began to wonder if she might. But not today, she at least had her clothes and her small hip bag... which still had her compass. The Goddess must have tried to keep the most important items with her when she teleported. Mya had wondered if the trips were so difficult because she was moving through the darkened lands with the Dragonlords magic and influence. It would probably explain why she lost so much and she felt such intense pain. It was a wonder she was alive really; maybe the Goddess bestowed more protection to Mya than she thought — 'I'm getting distracted, I need to move, and quickly,' she thought.

Despite being clothed and retaining her bag, she was pretty much empty handed. Before rushing off, she took a look around for any potential materials. There were a few branches around and some dried out grass... maybe reinforce a couple of sticks for now? Yes, that would have to do, just a little something to defend herself until she could find a place to work properly. She grabbed a few extra of each plant, deciding they were worth bringing along. Holding out her hand and reciting a short prayer, the items shrank. Their size was so much smaller, she was able to place them in her small hip bag with room to spare. She did the same with the banner. The Goddess had been kind when bestowing this gift. She knew Mya would have to find ways to bring lots of materials back to her various posts. Between only being so strong and some materials simply being quite large, this allowed her to work in a much faster fashion than even that of the humans of old. But she was making up for hundreds of years of lost creation, even small miracles like this only allowed for so much, she still needed time to make any real difference.

Moving westward, she came to the edge of a hill. Getting down was going to be interesting, steep slopes usually were. Before potentially sliding to a painful landing, she gazed out toward the horizon, she saw it there in the distance, Kol... or what was left of it. Not only did it lack the forest and greenery it once had been know for, there weren't even any standing buildings. "I don't understand, if they were fighting back, that's not exactly the best place to do it." She shrugged. It didn't matter at the moment, she needed to cover some distance before midday. She knew she would only have so long before night fell and the wisps would come. Wisps were the worst when she first arrived on any island. Wisps were basically ghosts that attacked anything wandering out at night. She couldn't properly defend herself yet, so setting up some kind of camp was the priority right now.

Looking down, she wasn't sure if this was the best direction to go, so she glanced around. Just off to her right was an even steeper incline but it looked like it had some kind of vegetation growing down the side. Quickly moving along the edge of the hill she came around the part that jutted out with the plants she wanted to use as anchors. Lowering herself slowly to each exposed ledge, she worked her way down. At the second section, she decided the plants were durable and fibrous enough they they might make some decent rope if she needed it. Carefully, she tore some of the ivy like plants from the hill, prayed and put them in her bag. Once she reached the ground, she began moving westward and quickly.

The heat was beginning to rise with the sun. This wasn't good. She realized the lack of plant life most likely meant lack of small creatures. With both in short supply, she was probably going to have to work hard to find food and water. As she moved along toward the abandoned city, she noted that there were some type of desert rodents moving about. They were similar to the ones back on one of Cantlin's islands, rabbits with a single horn protruding from there foreheads. Might make for some decent meat in a pinch. Still it didn't matter, with her lack of tools and refuge, food was going to be even harder to manage.

As Mya closed the gap to Kol, she used her reinforced stick to smash a few slimes. Looked like the area was ripe with the females. Careful not to damage the bodies too much, she picked up the dead slimes and placed them in her pack. There bodies acted as good bags for the liquid inside them. Before she knew it, she had at least a handful of the slimes and was practically on top of the village. Cautiously, she entered the village, if she could call it that. The place looked like it had been violently destroyed. It was as if someone, or something, had wrecked the place. Rubble was all around, and as far as she could tell, no one was here.

'Alright,' she thought, 'time to get started.'

Mya placed the flag into the pedestal at the center of town. She had already surmised after Cantlin and Rimuldar, these were likely always here and that's why the Goddess used the Banners. After a bit of work and shoving the pole a few times, she got the banner in place. She knew it had been done properly, because as soon as it was, light shot out of the pole straight into the sky. The dark clouds that covered the village began to dissipate and the sky in the immediate vicinity around the village cleared. This allowed the sun to shine down on the town. That light would serve as a beacon to those lost here in the lands of Kol. At least, that's how she always ended up with a bunch of people to care for. She chuckled to herself, she had met a lot of different people and was glad to have met them, even if some got on her nerves more than others.

Just as she had begun to reminisce, she heard movement behind her. In a flash, she had turned pulling out her stick and went into a guarded stance. "HEY! Hey now! Just who are ya and what are ya doing in my hideout?!" A man slightly taller than Mya came out around one of the buildings, but the thing she noticed first was the bright yellow mask he was wearing. It had horns and covered his entire head, likely for some level of protection. His skin was a fair bit darker than hers and he was clearly well built. She wasn't sure if it was fighting monsters or if he had trained to be that way, but this man had more muscle than anyone she had met up until now. He was probably pretty strong and if he wasn't friendly, it would be a rough fight for Mya.

"Hey! Well?! I asked ya a question didn't I? What are ya doing here?" He stood a good 3 to 4 yards from Mya, clearly gauging her. She decided it would be best to try and talk it out. "I'm here on behalf of the Goddess, Rubiss. I'm the Legendary Builder. I'm here to help rebuild your town." The masked stranger was silent for a moment. "You're the Legendary What-now? The Goddess sent you?... Are you feeling a bit looney? Did one o' them monsters hit you in the head a bit hard?" He almost sounded amused but maybe a bit put off. He hadn't approached any closer, and after that reaction, Mya guessed he might not.

"Look," she sighed "I'm the Builder and I'm here to help ok? I just came here to help with rebuilding the town and by the looks of this place, it needs it." She turned slightly glancing at the destroyed buildings. "Now YOU look here, ya loon, this here is MY hideout and i don't know what ya think you're doing, but take that ridiculous flag o' yours and scram!" He was clearly agitated. Mya wasn't exactly sure what to do, she wasn't going anywhere and this guy was sounding like a problem. Then, as if the exchange never even took place, the masked man wandered off and was mumbling about something under his breathe.

It was just passed midday at this point and she needed to make camp but the problem was this stranger might make things more difficult. She decided to walk after him. "Hey, listen, I think we got off on the wrong foot here. I just want to help. Maybe there's something I could do?" She was trying to be pleasant and remembered that not everyone had spent months with her fighting and restoring Alefgard, so they might not be as trusting. "Yeah, yeah. Legendary Builder or whatever. Any ninny can build, what are you a kid? Don't you know that?," he was mostly just annoyed now, not really angry. Though his response was odd, 'anyone can build? Um, no. The power of creation was stripped from humans centuries ago. What is this guy thin—' she stopped mid thought.

The masked man began flexing. Was he showing off? Mya was a bit lost, but then it dawned on her. He had meant BODYbuilding, anyone can body build. She stifled a sigh and resisted rolling her eyes. "Ah yes, well I don't mean bodybuilding sir, I meant I can build objects, like weapons and walls. I can create things." He stopped flexing and turned toward Mya, "hmph... alright then since you seem so desperate to keep my company, why don't you fix up these baths here?" He pointed to his right and nodded. "You aren't really my type, but if you can get the baths workin', I wouldn't mind if you hung out around here." Mya considered correcting him, but at this point she figured that was a waste of energy. This man was definitely not her type, but if fixing the baths meant an ally, she was all for it.

Mya wandered the town and stumbled across what looked like a workshop, or what was left of a workshop. This was perfect. There were some basic tools for her to use to help get this place up and rolling. First things first, some mining gear and storage. Mya worked quickly. It was late afternoon and she was going to need at least a couple hours to clean out the town of the rubble, then an hour to put together the baths and another hour to set up camp for the night. Half sprinting, she made her way over to the baths. Most of the stuff in there was easily reuseable. She cleared it out and noticed there was already water in the center. She reached down to touch it and realized it was hot. 'This must be a hot spring.' As she cleared out the room and reformed the walls, the place started to look a lot more like a place to relax, rather than a rubble filled hot tub. Yet another gift she was glad to have was reshaping materials, it was more about will than it was strength. She only needed to push against the earth to reform it to her liking. It molded as if by magic to the shape she kept in her mind. Harder materials took more time, but in the beginning, this was more than enough the keep wisps and other monsters out.

Between the heat of the afternoon and the steam coming off the water, Mya was beginning to overheat. She wasn't sure she could continue at this pace. She finished up the baths and decided to make a camp ground. She needed to rest, walls and other major defenses could wait until tomorrow. She walked toward one of the buildings that still looked mostly standing. It was an attempt to reduce the work she would need to do to build herself a place to rest. "OOIIIIIIII! LOOK AT THAT!" She heard the masked man yell from behind her. He must have seen the baths. People were always so surprised the first time they saw her fix or build something. She heard running, "Hey now, that's right amazing what ya did over there! Guess there is something to being a Legendary Body Builder after all." Mya sighed, "just Builder. I'm the Builder. I don't build my body like you." The masked man chuckled, "right sure, whatever ya want to be called. Works for me, I suppose." He caught up with Mya, "Ya know, I don't think we told each other our names. Mine's Glutimus. Nice to meet ya." Mya was pretty tired, but this was progress so no need ruin it. "Name's Mya. It's nice to meet you too, Glutimus." If he smiled she wasn't sure, but his body language said he was happy to meet her. He wandered off toward the baths and Mya went back to work on camp, but made note that tomorrow evening she would take a break and go relax in the baths.

...


	3. Chapter 2 - Knight

It was now late morning, and Mya had gathered plenty of materials to build a decent wall around the edge of town. She knew it was important to keep most of the monsters out if she didn't want her work busted up during any fighting. Just as she was completing her work on the east side of town, she heard Glutimus running around. "Hey, HEY! We've got a problem. Them uglies are on there way. We gotta fight them off!" He was out of breathe, he probably didn't realize she had been working there most of the morning. "Uglies? Ha, like monsters?," Mya laughed, she didn't normally insult the fiends, didn't see a reason in it, but she did find it a bit funny. "What're ya laughing for? They are on there way, it's a small group of 'em. I can see them in the distance marching here." Mya froze. This was a focused attack. "What do you mean? They never strike this soon." Mya became quite serious, her face much more sullen than a moment ago. "This soon? What're ya going on 'bout? They are coming. They always come. Ya gonna just stand there or are ya gonna fight?" Glutimus was more than a little nervous and it was obvious. Seeing him fidget, she told Glutimus to hide. He resisted at first, but his fear took over and he dashed into a building.

'Guess it was a good thing I found those boulders,' Mya thought as she unsheathed her new, if slightly crude, stone sword. Glutimus was right, they were here. She heard the beasts moving closer. Running out to meet the creatures, two large scorpions with sharps claws and even more cruel looking stingers, that were easily twice the size of Mya, turned to face her. She was going to have to play it smart, or this would get ugly, fast. Unfortunately for the scorpions, Mya had already dealt with their kind before. She knew their weak spots and had no reservations about exploiting them. And that's exactly what she did.

Mya had one main disadvantage to all the other people of Alefgard, she never grew stronger. Back when Mya first woke up in that tomb, she had only begun to understand her real struggle, she wasn't quite like everyone else. She sometimes wondered if her lack of growth and even the way she looked, were because of that 'slumber' she woke up from. Everyone had always been quick to judge her and even insult her appearance. While usually joking around, Mya had become quite sensitive to the jests. She didn't know why her hair and eyes lacked color and she didn't understand why after all the fighting she had done, she was no stronger than when she started. She was different, but she didn't understand why. It didn't stop her though, she had to fight. Everything she needed for almost every goal was somehow blocked by these monsters. So she fought them. She had to engage with the dangerous creatures even though she was at a disadvantage. Knowing that, Mya used every opening and every weak point to her advantage. It was the only thing she could do to even the field. Her equipment often helped, but she still had to be careful.

Knowing her gear was sub-par but understanding her enemy, Mya moved closer. She read their movements and struck efficiently. If scorpions could scream, they were doing it. Whatever that screechy sound was, had to be their way of yelling in pain. She would have to utilize the soft spots between their eyes until they dropped. Moving out of the way, a stringer crashed into the ground just a foot in front of Mya. As it reeled back to try again, she struck between it's eyes for the fifth time. It was fatal. She listened and realized the other scorpion was to her left, she rolled as quickly as she could but the great insect's claw grazed her arm. She was bleeding. It wasn't deep but it still hurt. She put some distance between her and the creature. She had some healing ointment, reaching into her bag and opening a smaller pouch, she dipped her fingers in the medicine. Quickly, she covered the wound with the cream and closed her bag. It numbed the pain immediately and stopped the bleeding, but it would take a minute or two for the wound to actually close.

She needed to end it quickly as she had seen a Knight Errant in the distance. There was no way she could handle both of these enemies at the same time. She let the scorpion strike just like the last, with it's stringer smashing the ground. She lunged and pushed hard. It must had been enough because when she struck, the monster reeled back in pain then crumpled to the ground. She must have hit just the right spot to take it out after so few hits. She refocused on the approaching Knight.

He was close. She had also made herself a small shield to fight with, but as she stared at his ax shining in the sunlight, she knew there was no way she could take a direct hit. It would chop through her shield and likely take off her arm. As he approached, he charged forward. Fast and almost true, Mya had only barely dodged the blow. Ignoring when he charged, Knights were generally slow fighters. That's where her opportunity would be. If nothing, Mya realized pretty quickly after waking up, no matter how strong her opponent was, none of them were very intelligent. If she could read their fighting patterns and style, she would typically come out on top. It was a long fight with the knight errant. Between her stone sword and his armor, she had to wear him down slowly. Eventually, she found a wide enough opening between his helmet and chest on a downward swing of his ax, that she jammed her sword directly into his neck. He wailed. Dropping his weapon and struggling to grab the sword now jutting out from his neck, the monster clad in armor was bleeding down over his shining metal cuirass. His screams became gurgles as the blood began to fill his lungs. It wasn't pleasant to witness as he struggled to breathe. Mya stood there for a moment, she wanted to make sure it was dead.

Once she was satisfied that the monster had passed, she removed her sword and decided to take pieces of the armor. She wanted to try and repurpose them for other materials. She even grabbed the ax, unfortunately it was much too heavy for her to wield. It'll be scrap then, she decided. She wandered back into town and decided the wall around town was now her number one priority and the sooner she could fine harder materials, the better. Glutimus peeked out of the building where their beds were and realized she had defeated all the attackers. "OI! You're alive! Hah HA! You're really something!" He was pretty excited and came running out toward her. "Well, I've had some practice." She smiled, he wasn't the first to cower in fear over these minions of the Dragonlord and she doubted he'd be the last.

"Ya know, I don't think I mentioned what happened to the ol' hideout here, did I?" He leaned forward a bit waiting for Mya to respond in interest. "No you haven't. Feel free to fill me in on the details though, any new information is bound to be helpful." She turned and slowly walked back toward the part of the east wall she was working on before being interrupted. Motioning for Glutimus to follow, he kept pace and started to explain the situation. "Well, ya see, me and the gang were hiding out here and using ol' Kol as a base of operations while we fought back against the monsters. But about two weeks before ya got here, they came in a huge force and destroyed the place. They walloped the buildings like they was made out of cake. We all got scattered but we saw they were trying to get to our glorious leader, Barbella." Mya stopped. She turned and looked at what she assumed was Glutimus's eyes and quite sternly cut in, "so don't you think that maybe rescuing your friends, is a bit more important than fixing up the baths? I said I was here to help and that's what you had me do?!" Glutimus stopped and looked down for a second, almost bashful in his demeanor, "well... ya see, the baths here, their like a symbol to us. And if you was really the Builder like you claimed, i figured that would be a good way to prove it. The guys, and even Barbella, will be thrilled when they see the place up and going like it was. Aaaaand... well, you didn't look like much. Kinda scrawny and all that, so i wasn't really sure you could fight either." Glutimus had been proven wrong and she could tell he was struggling with some kind of apology.

"Hey, Glutimus?," she waited for him to look up since the masked hid his face, "it's alright, you aren't the first to underestimate me or think I was lying about who I am. I don't blame you, but I say we should refocus on saving your friends, don't you think?" Elated at the suggestion, Glutimus almost jumped with excitement. "Alright then Builder, Let's get a plan going and save the lads and Barbella!" She chuckled a little, he clearly held their leader up on a pedestal. "Well, as eager as I am to save your friends, I'm not too keen on taking them out of the frying pan into the fire. I need to finish this wall so then we can bring them somewhere safe." Glutimus was nodding in agreement as she spoke. "Sounds like the monsters were after your leader, so she's likely held captive. It might be best if we tried saving the rest of your gang first so we have more information and even more people when we go for her. She's likely alive, if they bothered to take her." Glutimus quipped, "Absolutely! But... we have a bit of a problem..." he waited until he knew she was listening and not overly engrossed in constructing the wall. "Well after the lads and I split up, I know I saw Burly going south..." Mya paused her work, she stood up and looked to the south of Kol. "I take it that gate wasn't always there?" She had already ventured a guess as to what he was going to say next, and she wasn't far off.

"Just a few days after they trashed the place, I saw 'em putting up that big gate. They were blocking the path to the south. I was pretty sure Burly ran that way, like i said, but now we can't even go see and i don't think he'd be able to come back." Glutimus seemed a little depressed talking about it. He had probably tried to think of ways to deal with it but for the last couple of weeks he's been here stuck, unable to help any of his friends. "Tomorrow morning. I'll head out then to see about that gate and whatever is likely guarding it." Mya knew it had to be guarded, they wouldn't build the thing to leave it unprotected. She spent the rest of the day quickly finishing the walls around the town. She stood back and knew as soon as she could infuse it with stone or some kind of harder material she would, but this would do for now, at least while she left in search of this "Burly".

As she was getting ready to lie down for the evening, she caught Glutimus rummaging through some leftovers from from the kitchen. "Still hungry?", Mya inquired. "YESH— I.. I WASH TRYIN TO—", she held up her hand , "Chew your food. What are you 3 years old?" Glutimus finished and swallowed his leftovers. "Sorry 'bout that mate, heh it's not easy keeping these muscles fueled, but I manage," he was apparently proud of his physique. "I'm a little curious about this Barbella you talk about, anything special about her? Some reason the monsters might have wanted to kidnap her?" Mya didn't know it but she had asked his favorite question. "Ohhh Baarreeellla. She's the most wonderful woman you'd ever meet. She's the one who brought us guys together. She helped us band together and push back against the monsters. She's everything to us in the gang. Why, she's practically our mother, our sister, our lover and our life's purpose!" Mya rolled her eyes a bit. "But...", Glutimus paused in thought," if I'm being totally honest with ya, and I am, I don't really know why they took her. She must have something they want. I just don't know, is all." Mya had figured as much herself, but it was worth the ask in case Glutimus knew something that might help. " Alright, time for bed for me. I've got a long day tomorrow."

Morning came faster than she would have liked, but it usually did. She woke up just before dawn and headed to the workshop. She made herself a spare sword. She might not need it, but better to take the precaution since she had no idea what she was about to get into. As she walked by the bed house, she could hear Glutimus snoring loudly. 'How did I sleep through that?,' she thought. Moving south after leaving town, she approached the large structure. Just by looking at it, she could tell the gate of constructed of some real durable brick. Noting she'd like that for Kol, she walked to the blocked section of the main passage.

"Her her her, a human? Her her her", before she could even see the guardian, her hand was on her hilt. "Come to pass through my gate, hmmm Human? Her her her" it was taunting her. From the right a large Knight Errant like the one that attacked the village, stepped out. "Come little human, you can pass... if you can deal with me. HER HER HER HERRRRR!" The fiend made it clear he believed he had the upper hand. The entrance was still blocked, but she had also brought some of her mining tools. Checking for a couple weak points, she placed her pins and she slammed her hammer against them. ~CrAcK~ She swung again. A portion of the barrier tumbled down. Stepping through, she unsheathed her sword and walked in.

"Well, well, resourceful little critter aren't you? Her her her", blade readied and shield lifted, the knight was ready to engage her. Just as before, he charged and she moved to dodge. This would be just like yesterday, she would bide her time and strike when it would count. Mya wasn't sure how long she had fought the creature but she was quite tired when she was done. It lay on the ground, blood slowly pooling around his midsection. Mya knew she needed to get to Burly, but she need to finish clearing the gate. Working as fast as she could, she created an opening in the barrier on the opposite side of the gate. It was the same size as the entrance, so any human wanting to pass, could do so. That would limit the larger monsters' access to Kol but let any new comers pass with little resistance.

Stepping out passed the gate, she walked up a small incline. Mya stared out. It was practically a desert and it didn't look like there was much in the way of safety either. She spied a couple of destroyed buildings, maybe Burly holed up there after the gate was constructed. She opted to at least head to the first building to the south-east. Looked like there was a fire or maybe smoke from a fire gone out. It was still morning after all, she had headed out early so that she might be able to cover more ground before night fell again.

Slimes, mostly male here, were scattered everywhere. She took the opportunity to hunt a few. Unlike the slick oil like liquid in the females, males had something closer to an adhesive like fluid. Scorpions were out in mass. She didn't go far before being forced to encounter one and then another. Finally making it to the building she had spotted back at the gate, she decided it would be a good place to rest for the remainder of the day while she scouted the immediate area. She fixed up the walls and restored the building to enough of a functional state, that it would be safe to sleep in that night. She made a small stairway to give herself some height. Gazing further south toward the distant mountain range, she saw a few caves. 'Maybe he went that way...?' She got down and realized there was an old notebook of sorts lying half under a crate. She must have missed it, being so focused on making camp. She picked it up and tried reading what was written:

'I got separated from my gang. Not sure what the hell happened back there, but those damn monsters came out in force and crushed Kol. I know I saw them take Barbella and I was pretty sure Maxi chased them down when he realized it too.'

'Illegible writing and smeared passages'

'I'm kind of in it pretty rough here. It's hot and this old shack isn't going to cut it if them ugly scorpions try to rush it again. Tomorrow morning I'm headed for the mountains south of here. Maybe that'll work out better for me. Might even find some food on the way.

-B '

It was a small bit of a journal entry. It was probably an attempt to gather his thoughts after everything that happened, Mya figured. She did note that Burly was likely a decent lead to "Maxi", probably another one of the guys in Barbella's gang. Though after meeting Glutimus, she wondered just what kind of "gang" this was. Maybe they were all scared, meatheads like him. But she would reserve judgement on these guys, after all she was pretty irritated when people did the same to her.

It was now late afternoon, Mya realized she was a bit hungry. She ventured out and saw some cactus. She bet it might make for decent food since she couldn't cook much out here. She found a couple varieties and gathered what she could until she decided to turn in for the evening. The night wouldn't be so generous though, scorpions wandered around and clicked their claws, she heard those damn wisps hovering about and swatting at anything that moved. She tossed and turned, but wasn't able to get much sleep. At dawn, she called it quits and decided it was time to go find Burly.

...


	4. Chapter 3 - Sheen

Managing to avoid most of the monsters in the area, Mya went straight to the closest cave she could see in the mountain range that had been further south of her camp. She had made good time too, only midday by the looks of it, so depending on the size of the cave she might be able to explore another if need be. Walking into the dark cave, Mya pulled out a torch, lit it and moved deeper. After only a few minutes of walking, she noticed the walls of the cave seemed odd, or at least not like the dirt and clay at the opening. She walked up to the wall and held her light close, reaching out she touched a section of the wall that was much darker than the rest. It was also had a bit of luster to it. Pulling back her hand, her finger tips were dark. After standing there for a moment, it dawned on her. Coal. She had never been so glad to have her mining tools as she was there standing in that cave on the far side of the desert. She spent the better part of an hour mining the stuff. The place was packed, practically untouched. She even scored some copper ore. This was excellent, not only did this mean she could make something other than stone weapons, she was able to work out some ideas on improving their cooking options.

Knowing she needed to move on, she gathered as much as she could with her limited time. Pressing on further, she finally came to a dead end. 'No Burly,' she thought. Just as she was turning to leave, she thought she heard something. Maybe she was hearing things, then "-ody-...", a faint sound near the wall at the dead end. She stopped moving and listened carefully. "-mebody pl-" the sound was calling out, it was definitely something that could talk. Pausing, she wanted to be sure, staying still she listened, "-omebody please he-." There was no doubt now. She recalled there was a second cave not to far from the one she entered, this might be the a section of that one. But these caves could easily move in different directions, so there was no way of guaranteeing she'd find the voice that way. Looking around she could see this section of the cave was also littered with ore and coal, smiling she decided the best way to get to the voice was also the one that would line her bag with materials.

Carefully, Mya worked for the better part of a couple hours digging and knocking out chunks of earth, burrowing toward the sound. Just as she began to wonder if the wall was thicker than she anticipated, she broke a section that pushed air through toward her face. "Excellent!," she exclaimed. Of course, this was the part she had to be the most careful with, she didn't want to cause a cave in so close to her goal. Slowly working away at the hole and careful to watch the walls and ensure their integrity wasn't lost, she made a hole large enough for two of her to fit through. Grabbing her torch from the ground, she lit up the other side to see if she could identify the voice she heard.

On the ground was a man, similar in appearance to Glutimus. He was also covered in dirt and didn't appear conscious. Mya stepped over to him and pushed him on his back. As she did, he responded a little. "Ehh... eyyy..." *cough cough*, he tried to speak, but between the yelling and most likely a severe lack of hydration, he wasn't able to speak well. Mya managed to sit him up a bit. He was awake but clearly not at his best. Digging around in her bag, she found a few of the sweet small cactus cuts she gathered earlier. Light pink in color and also filled with juice. He was wearing a mask like Glutimus, so she undid it enough so she could get to his mouth. She fed the first bit of cactus to him until he realized what it was. It was slow going, but he ate a few and sat still for a minute. *cough cough* "thanks mate." It was almost a whisper and his voice was a bit hoarse. "I was sure I was a goner, heh, but looks like today's not my day." She let him rest a bit and offered a little more of the cactus she 'd found. He gladly took the food and eventually stood up. "Really, thanks friend. Name's Burly."

For all intents and purposes, Burly here, was Glutimus. Or at least when it came to their appearance. Both men were muscle bound and looked like they could toss a boulder. Burly was a bit shorter though, closer to Mya's height than his. Despite the caked dirt, she could see his skin was a bit more fair even thought he likely spent a lot of time in the sun. He also wore that ugly, yellow mask like Glutimus. She had no idea who designed it, but it was not her favorite, not to mention the horns were an odd choice. As he recovered and began to move about, she also noticed, they moved in a similar fashion. She laughed quietly, Glutimus hadn't been her favorite, he also wasn't her least favorite. She was trying to imagine two of him running around when the monsters came. Two muscular men letting the "scrawny" little girl do all the fighting. The image in her mind couldn't help but make her chuckle.

"Somethin' wrong?,' Burly looked to be about as recovered as he could be for the moment. "No, sorry, just thinking about something. You think you could walk a bit. I have a small enclosed camp a bit north of here. I think it might be good to get you out of this cave." Mya decided to bring up Glutimus once they were back at camp. "Aye, not a bad idea, I'd rather not be stuck in this hole any longer... tch why did I think this was a good idea?," Burly faded off in thought. "Excellent, maybe we can find some more cactus on the way to help you recover a bit more." She turned and stepped through the hole she made and lead the way out of the cave.

It seemed the monsters were slightly less aggressive with a friend in tow. As they were walking she handed him her spare sword. "Thanks, not normally my cup o' tea, but better than my fist with some of these bastards," Burly was looking toward a couple large scorpions in the distance. "Oh? And if you don't mind me asking, what IS your cup of tea?" For whatever reason, she was pretty curious that he had a 'preferred weapon'... maybe he wasn't a duplicate Glutimus. "Me? Well lass, that's an easy one. A hammer. And not just some small hammer to work a forge, no, a War Hammer." Mya looked at him, impressed despite not actually seeing him wield one. "Really? A War Hammer? Sounds impressive." He nodded in agreement, "yes ma'am, We only had wood ones back at the ol' hideout but I'd be mighty excited if I could get an iron one. Show these damn monsters a thing or two." Then just as he finished his sentence, a large sink hole formed a few yards out and a large scorpion crawled out.

"AYE! SO YA THOUGHT YA COULD CATCH US BY SURPRISE?!" Burly practically shouted across the whole desert and was charging forward. Mya stood there stunned for a moment, she was pretty sure this was the first time she saw a genuine warrior other than herself. He wasn't graceful, but he didn't need to be. Mya realized quite quickly, Burly's muscles weren't just for show. He struck the creature and left large dents in it's shell. It was also obvious the scorpion felt them. Mya regained herself and moved in. Burley was doing some serious damage, but he was also a good distraction. Mya waited for the right opportunity to present itself. The monsters claws reached out and tried to clip into Burly but he batted them away, and it left it's face wide open. Mya ran and plunged the sword straight between it's eyes. There wasn't any insect like screeching, it just slumped over. Mya guessed Burly's beating had done a lot of damage and her strike was the killing blow.

"HAHAHAHA Would ya look at that? No offense there lass, but between your lackluster build and your odd appearance, I didn't figure ya for a fighter. hahah well color me impressed." Burly was smiling, she couldn't see it, but his voice made it apparent. He meant no harm in the comment, but it always stung a little when they brought up how she looked. He meant well though, he was obviously glad to see she could fight. "Well, I'm glad I could help, " she smiled and motioned passed the dead insect, "my camp is only a bit farther." "Oi, now look at that. I'm pretty sure that was the shack I holed up in for a most of last week, but it seems a bit different." As they approached, Burly realized it was, in fact, the shack he had stayed in. He also noticed how it had been fixed up. "That's some fancy work here miss... uhh, sorry there, I guess I never asked your name, did I?" He felt a little embarrassed to have been a little rude to his savior. His hand was scratching the back of his neck. "So erm, what's your name lass? Ya know so I can thank ya properly and all that." Mya smiled and continued to walk into the camp site. She made a mental note to build Burly one hell of a War Hammer.

"My name is Mya, and... well, I build stuff." Mya almost mentioned being the Builder again, but after Glutimus's reaction, she opted for a more casual approach. "Ain't that somethin' so you can build stuff, like create things from scratch? Or fixing up things like this here shack?" He seemed interested, so she obliged. "yes that's exactly what I do. I actually came to Kol hoping to help other people build stuff." He was nodding taking in what she was saying and chewing on another cactus treat he found on the way here. "I actually came out this way looking for you, Burly. Glutimus sent me." She waited for a reaction, but it was always harder with these guys because of the masks. "Wa' no' mhmhm", Mya shook here head, "Chew your food, Burly." Maybe the "mother" part of Glutimus's description of Barbella was more accurate than she initially thought.

Burly finished his treat and started again. "So Glutimus is still kickin'? That's great news and he even sent ya out here to track me down. Heh, glad he still cares." Mya wasn't sure why, but it was clear that Glutimus not coming himself wasn't a concern for Burly. Maybe he knew Glutimus didn't do well with monsters. Maybe he'd just deal with it later. "Yeah, I was working on your base before I came out this way. Glutimus is holding the fort until we get back." Mya figured the walls should hold against most attacks, so the town and Glutimus should be fine. "First thing in the morning?" Burley asked. Mya took a moment, "Yes, we will head out first thing."

Burly and Mya started off early the next morning. She figured they'd be back to Kol before the afternoon. She had Burly help carry a few things since her bag was filled. Burly was rather impressed at her ability to shrink objects down. When pressed about her ability, she told him about being the Builder of Legend. He shrugged. He mentioned he wasn't sure he understood, but it didn't matter, she was on their side and he was glad to have her. They made it back by early afternoon, right around when Mya figured.

"HEY! HEY GLUTIMUS, GET YOU'RE ARSE OUT HERE!" At this point, Mya had confirmed Burly was not the quiet type and he probably wasn't the best at reconnaissance. Though she didn't mind, because he was a heavy hitter and would be one hell of a destructive force. Knowing she had someone else to help keep the Dragonlord's minions in check was comforting. There were always people willing to pick up arms when she fought before, but this was different. He was experienced and he could easily push most creatures back by himself. He was able to fight 2 to 3 times as many enemies as any villager she had met before she got here.

Glutimus came around the corner, sweaty and his chest seemed a bit flush. 'He must have had it real hard while they were out,' Mya thought, knowing the baths were in the direction he came from. "Hey now! Burly! Glad to see ya mate!" He strolled up to Burly and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "O' 'ell", he started plugging his nose, "wenz tha lass time ya haa a batthhh?!" Glutimus was waving his hand in front of his face. "Shuuuuut iiit." Burly smacked Glutimus upside the head and walked toward the baths himself. Mya watched them and had decided she was probably going to like Kol, even though it was nothing like she expected when she first arrived.

...


	5. Chapter 4 - Flames

#DQBFanfic

# Chapter 4

## Flames

Mya put together the town a bit more over the next couple of days. She knew Burly needed a least a day to recuperate properly. Despite probably having some information, she didn't want to drill him right away. His presence was a welcome one. He even brought up some good ideas for cooking in the kitchen. Apparently, he was a vegetarian. She was pretty surprised to hear that, she figured he would have a more meat based diet. Rooms and living quarters progressed nicely. She had even found some stone walls within the smashed buildings. Using it as a base material she was able to infuse the earth walls around the base with it. The walls hardened and became like the material she infused with it. Looking at her work proudly, she knew only the stronger fiends would have a chance at breaking through.

After finishing up the walls and upgrading her gear, she set about to make Burley a hammer, one worth wielding. Unfortunately, she lacked iron at the moment and he was currently using a wooden replacement. She looked over her supplies and decided a copper one would do. That would be a good stepping stone. She spent the better part of the day crafting the hammer. It was a bit heavy, definitely not to her liking but she knew it wasn't a problem for Burly to lift. She had created a sword out of the same metal and that suited her just fine. Once done with the hammer, she went in search of Burly. She found him wandering about the kitchen, probably in search of something to eat. "Hey Burly, glad I found you!," Mya waved to him as she entered the kitchen. "Oh hey there, watch'cha looking for me for?" Burly was a little baffled she was looking for him, but then he spied the hammer dangling from her back. "Naw... now ya didn't go and do wha' I think you did?" She smiled and lifted the weapon off her back and held it out for him. He couldn't contain his excitement, "RIGHT GORGEOUS SHE IS!" He ran outside, Mya following close behind. He swung his new hammer to get a feel for it. He was fast even with the weight of the metal.

"Them uglies wont even know what hit 'em," Burly was raring to go. Mya knew that the truth was actually quite the opposite, those 'uglies' would know exactly what hit them and it was going to hit them hard. She was almost looking forward to the next encounter, she wanted to see the damage that hammer could do. As if they heard her thoughts, Glutimus came rushing around the corner. "OI, there's another group of the buggers headed this way!" This was probably the second fight since her and Burly made it back. One almost every 24 hours, but this time Burly was going to make sure they remembered what happened when they attacked Kol.

Stepping outside the walls, Mya and Burly readied their new, sturdy weapons. Mya felt more confident than normal and it had more to do with her new companion than her weapon. Coming from the west was a large group of brownies and Scorpions. This time she easily counted over 6 scorpions and at least an equal number of brownies. She knew not far behind them was probably whatever lead them. "Ok Burly, the grunts need to go down quickly so we can focus on the guy in charge." Mya instinctively gave the order. Burly following her lead replied, "right lass, let's show them how we fight out here in Kol."

The scorpions closed the gap first. Mya went straight for her tried and true tactic, dodge and gouge the soft spot in between their eyes. Burly on the other hand came down on the fiends like a demon. He swung his new hammer and crushed portions of the scorpions bodies. Legs crunched and screeches filled the air. They may have had a hard outer shell, but that didn't mean much when Burly swung at them. For every one that Mya killed, Burly had utterly crushed two. Before the brownies could even reach the fighting, broken bodies of all the scorpions lay strewn across the ground. The smell from the smashed and oozing organs was a bit much, but with adrenaline pumping and their lives on the line, neither warrior noticed.

The brownies didn't even hesitate. Their dead allies didn't seem to phase them or their assualt. Their charge was slower than that of the scorpions. Brownies were smaller creatures, about two thirds the height of most humans and covered in brown fur. They were slightly cone shaped with short legs and arms. Every brownie held a large wooden hammer as a weapon, Mya had never actually encountered one with out a hammer. Much like the Hammerhoods, a purple variant of the brownies, they were strong. Their size was not a good way to gauge their strength. A brownie could easily break through even brick walls. They were actually the reason Mya had been so keen to upgrade the the walls around Kol. It was the brownies who could rip through Kol when people weren't paying attention.

The small mob of the creatures came forward. There were at least 10 now that they were close enough for Mya to count. "Burly?" She didn't need to finish her question. "I say it's about time we find out who's got themselves the better hammer, AYE?!" He charged. Mya wasn't far behind. Unlike the scorpions who had some type of natural armor, the brownies were pretty exposed. Mya sliced downward, she felt her blade connect. It was still new, so it was sharp. She carved into the front most brownie with ease. It screamed. It sounded like a small howl. The blood spattered on her leather armor, but she didn't stop. She dodge, lunged and stabbed. Watching for hammer swings, Mya was cutting through the brownies and slicing anything within range.

Not to far to her left was Burly, his battle was underway as well. Unlike his quick and selective companion, Burly swung with almost utter abandon. With enemies like this, even he knew he didn't need much strategy. He swung down and to the left. The blunt end of his hammer crashed into the first brownie he found. There were no small howls. There were no precision cuts. No, when Burly swung, the only sound that could be heard was the crunching of shattering bones. Their death was instant. Whenever his hammer connected, the brownie was nothing more than a small pile of mangled flesh.

Within minutes of the brownies arrival, they were dead. Mya stood back and wiped down her blade and look to Burly to confirm if he was fine. He nodded and both turned their attention to the now approaching leader, while still some distance off they could see their next opponent. Unlike before, when the Knight Errant would rush forward, there was a robed figured moving toward them. Mya knew almost instantly what was approaching. A sorcerer. He was larger than normal and that bothered her. Magic always made for a rough fight. If size was an indication of his spells, he might do some real damage to her and Burly before they could even get close. She had a little time, she assumed, maybe she could come up with something to help level the— Before she could even finish her thought, they were surrounded by fire.

Mya backed up a few steps, not sure what just happened. Then she realized the flames encircling her were actually in a humanoid shape. A head, torso, legs and arms. She hadn't seen this before, she wasn't even sure what they were. She looked back toward the sorcerer, he was current casting something. He was summoning the creatures. Out of instinct, or maybe panic, Mya swung at the flaming man. Nothing, not even the faintest feeling of having touched an object. Her blade sliced right through them and did no damage. "This is bad," Mya was a bit lost, she didn't know what to do. "Ha ha you're not wrong lass!" Burly wasn't swinging unless he felt like it might keep them back a bit. "These damn flames are what we've been losing to almost the entire time we held Kol." Burly leaped and was a bit out of breath from so much dodging. "They do have one weakness though," he smiled and Mya saw him staring out in the distant west. Mya's eye grew wide, 'OF COURSE!,' she thought ' how could I be so stupid.' Turning to yell to Burly, he cut her off, "already ahead of ya, go show 'im who's boss, I'll keep these hot heads busy!"

Mya dashed forward. She put everything into getting to the sorcerer. He had moved closer but it was still a bit of a run. If nothing, sorcerer's didn't wear much armor, so hopefully she could end it fast. As she approached she saw the end of his staff glowing bright red. He was charging a spell. They practically homed in on their intended target, they were difficult to dodge. With little to no time to decide how to handle the spell, Mya chose the more direct route. She sprinted straight toward the fire wielding mage. The flames burst across her chest, scorching her armor and slowing her for a moment. She was close. He began charging his spell again, but it wasn't enough, just as the flame began to bud on his staff Mya was nose to nose with him. "URCK— " the sorcerer coughed, "WHY ACK—" coughing blood he looked down, her sword firmly planted deep in his chest. She didn't say anything, she leaned back ripping her sword out of the mage leader as he fell to his knees. He coughed up more blood, but Mya wasn't done. She lunged forward, swinging her sword low and flat.

Burly came running up. He was clearly exhausted, evading the flame creatures had wiped him out, but he wanted to make sure everything was fine with Mya. She was sitting, resting on the ground. He looked over and was a bit confused at the sight of the headless sorcerer, he stepped around and saw that the hood of the man's robe had caught his head. His robes were a dark gray, but all around the shoulders and hood, you could see the crimson sheen as it soaked up the blood from his body. "Well now, I think maybe you won that one, hahaha " he chuckled for a good minute. Mya was smiling, but that blow to the chest really hurt. Spells also had a physical impact along with whatever element it was made of. After the adrenaline wore off, she felt the pain in her chest, not to mention fatigue was catching up with her.

They headed back to Kol and decided to rest for the remainder of the day. Each took their turn in the baths and made some dinner. Mya had created a gathering space in the kitchen for everyone to hang out and chat in. Burly, Glutimus and Mya all sat in the kitchen finishing up dinner, when Burly brought up their remaining gang member. "Well I think with that last attack, we probably bought ourselves a few days. It'll take some time for the bastards to regroup and replace that mage of theirs." He munched on some of his cactus steak, a creation Mya had made at his request. "I'm feeling a lot better even after today's fight, probably a good time to go look for Maxi." Mya nodded as she ate and waited for him to elaborate. "Most of the them ugly bastards went further south... actually more like southwest,' he pondered. "I was pretty sure they had way too many for even Maxi to fight off," he munched some more of his veggie steak. "zo 'e prolee gah—" Mya gave him a stern look, he finished chewing his food and swallowed before speaking. "So he probably got overpowered by them nasties. Maxi can be real scary when he's fightin' but even he couldn't handle all the bastards that swarmed the place."

Mya pondered what Burly might find "scary" considering how strong he was and the way he fought. She might find it a bit terrifying as well. This Maxi must be a real brute to make Burly comment like that. While she was absolutely agreeable to the idea of adding someone like that to Kol and it's defense, she wasn't looking forward to some warmongering meathead wandering around and making demands for things he wanted because he was so strong. She sighed to herself, she was judging again. Burly had been a pleasant surprise even if he wasn't the most intelligent person she'd ever met. He usually just wanted to lift, eat or fight. He was a simple man and at the very least, easy to keep happy. She hoped Maxi would be similar.

...


	6. Chapter 5 - Confinement

Burly had spent the early morning prepping for the trip. Mya had done the same. She grabbed a few items that might be particularly useful for this trip, especially since they were going to travel further south than before. On her few trips around the town scouting for food and resources over the last couple of days, she had even found an area with chimeras. The half vulture, half snake creatures had peculiar feathers. When she gathered enough she was able to produce an item called a Chimera wing. As the name suggested, it looked much like the wings on the beasts, but they stored a special bit of magic. When used, they actually allowed the user to fly home. The user had to focus on the destination in their mind and they quite literally flew back. The first time she used one, it ended up being one of the more jarring experiences she had back in Cantlin, the first city she helped rebuild. She shot through the air and arched high above the mountains toward her base. If someone wasn't ready, it was a bit of a shock, not to mention anytime she used one when was wounded, the flight wasn't very comfortable. Flying quickly through the air with wind whipping around would sometimes hurt your injuries further.

After double checking her bag and making sure she had a spare hammer for Maxi, she went and looked for Burly so they could head out. "Alright lass, let's go and find Maxi," Burly was definitely looking forward to finding his friend even if it meant trudging through the desert again. Before they made it to the town's South Gate, Glutimus ran up to see them off. "Make sure if you find any of them monsters that took Barbella or Maxi, you give 'em a good wallop for me!" The traveling companions both smiled and nodded, they planned to pay back every hit the monsters dished out when they ravaged the town. "Don't forget to see if you can find anything else out about Barbella too, we still ain't sure where they took her." Mya nodded again, "Yes, maybe something can even give us a hint as to why they took her in the first place." It was plainly obvious Glutimus was worried most about Barbella and he wanted her back safely, but it was concerning to Mya that they kidnapped her and didn't simply kill her.

"Alright, let's get going, we need to find Maxi. He might even have some information about the monsters and Barbella, if we're lucky." Mya turned and lead the way. Today, Mya knew they could cover a lot more ground than previously. Between the newer weapons, her companion and a better understanding of the landscape south of Kol, they could travel much faster and handle any resistance more quickly. Burly apparently felt a little chatty today as well, "you know now that I think on it, I'm pretty sure a couple months back the Dragonlord's fiends had built a small fortress toward the southern part of Kol's island. I bet, if they really did get Maxi, he might be there. I mean otherwise he'd have probably came back to Kol by now." That made sense to Mya. The gate had been cleared for almost a week now, and anyone looking to get to town shouldn't have any problems. The fact that Maxi hadn't shown up on his own, was probably a good sign he had been captured like Barbella... or dead. But she didn't want to bring up that last part. The guys had been pretty fired up about bringing Maxi back and she didn't want to sour the rescue effort. Even though she was worried he might be a tactless brute around town, she certainly didn't want to find their friend dead.

They travelled for the better part of the day. As they reached the southwestern tip of the mountain range, they saw some kind of tower or small fortress. It was pretty spot on to what Burly had mentioned. It wasn't anything overly impressive, but it also wasn't something to blindly rush into either. After suggesting they make camp for the night, Mya wanted to discuss their plan for the next day. Assaulting a monster ridden fortress of any size, was best handled with care. They were too far from Kol to actually find a safe place to hide in once the attack began. "Ok Burly, we leave at dawn. I noticed they have a familar blockade at the entrance to the fort. I'll have to take down a few sections so we can get in. I'll need you to keep watch while I'm working." Burly grunted in agreement. She continued, "we don't know what we'll find in there. Whether it's monsters or even Maxi, so we'll have to watch out for—" Mya paused, she was pretty sure she had heard something. Their camp was safe enough with it's walls and reinforcements. But that noise didn't sound like a wisp...

"Hey... I think I heard it too," Burly whispered. It was distant, but they heard it again. "That sounds like yelling, don' it? And not the fightin' kind..." Burly shifted a little in his seat. Mya wasn't sure what to make of it. They couldn't charge the gate now, they'd be swarmed by those damn night wisps, on top of trying to deal with the gate itself and whatever waited inside. She felt uneasy about it all though, if that yelling was Maxi... she tried to steady herself. Mya looked at Burly, "I think we should get some sleep, the sooner we are rest and can take the fortress, the better." It was a long couple of hours in the beginning of that evening. The quiet, haunting yells didn't escape their ears and it wasn't until much later did the sounds stop. Mya almost felt guilty, but there was no way of actually knowing if it was Maxi. She couldn't even be sure it was a human. Her reasoning for holding off was solid, it wouldn't do anyone any good if they got themselves killed, but it didn't help her sleep any better.

After a short and unpleasant night, the comrades from Kol moved toward the fortress. It was suspiciously empty, whether that was a blessing or not, she couldn't judge yet. Mya started whispering to Burly, "Ok watch my back, once the first chunk falls it's going to make some noise, we'll likely attract some unwanted attention." Grunting and turning his attention to behind them. Mya started working and placing pins at various points in the blockade. She worked as quietly as she could and readied as many sections as possible. She wanted to drop half the gate so it would be easier to get back out, if need be. It was taking longer than she planned, but once she started she had to make sure she finished. Managing to get Burly's attention, she pulled out her own hammer, a bit smaller and definitely less unwieldy than Burly's, she motioned how she planned to hit the pins she'd placed. Even though Burly would be the first to admit he was a bit less intelligent than most, he usually caught on pretty quick. He looked around and he understood, she pointed to the right side of the gate where she had started but she remained at the center.

Mya drew back her hammer and swung into the section with the mining pins, driving them deep into the stone. The with the stone cracking and the sound of the hammer bashing against it, she made a whole lot of noise. That was Burly's queue, he did the same. Now they raced against time as they broke out several sections, working their way toward each other. The before they even met, the largest portion fell away. With the integrity of the side of the gate giving way, the rest practically fell apart itself. Mya put her hammer away and unsheathing her blade, she walked into the fortress. No one was there. She didn't like it, not one bit. They worked their way to the back of the fortress, it wasn't too far but the lack of any kind of signs of life was unnerving. Burly seemed on edge as well, he definitely preferred more direct encounters and this felt like a trap.

Just as Mya and Burly found the section housing the jail cells, around the corner a large knight errant stepped out. It was at least a head again taller than the one that guarded the gate south of Kol. He was wielding a large ax and his foot steps made the ground quiver slightly. If any of his attacks met their target, it wasn't going to be pretty. Burly and Mya stepped back, they let the giant knight move completely into view. "Humans." He spoke in a deep and foreboding voice, but he didn't appears to have the overconfidence of his brethren. "Did you come here for your friend?" Friend? Did he mean Maxi?! She felt both relief and a pang of sickness deep in the pit of her stomach. 'If those screams were Maxi...' her thoughts trailed. She felt guilt but then a bit of rage. Who were these fiends to hurt and torture humans? The knight stopped any further thoughts, "pitiful creatures, you are. Weak. Cowards. A bane on the land that belongs to his Unholiness." He must be referring to the Dragonlord, she thought. She knew they would have to slay him if they were going to rescue Maxi. Burly and Mya readied themselves. "We will not allow you to stain this place any further."

'SHIT.' Mya looked around and on her left and far to Burly's right were sorcerers. They were already casting spells to fling toward them. Burly saw them as well, but at this point the two had fought enough to know how to work as a team. Each had their strengths and knew when to let the other handle an enemy. Mya being quick was best to handle the magic casters and Burly, well the knight was going to learn about a little brute force himself. Mya dashed to the closer mage and backed him into a corner. The wall slightly shielded her from the other flying spells, while she dealt with him. Lightly armored and smaller in stature to the one that lead the latest assualt on Kol, Mya dropped him within moments. The real challenge now was to get to the other one without being fried first.

Burly had engaged the knight. Between the two warriors' weapons, both the walls and the ground were cracking, if not losing large sections of tile and stone from the force of the blows. Burly's sheer strength slightly unnerved Mya whenever she saw it, remembering his comment about Maxi, Mya wondered just how terrifying it would be to see him fight. The sorcerer had tried flinging a few spells toward Burly, that was her chance. Sprinting with everything she had, she dodged the knight errant's deflected swing and tackled the second sorcerer. Less graceful than most of her fighting but she didn't have time to worry about it. She had to finish this guy off so she could help with the knight. The mage's staff rolled away and in a panic, began swinging his arms widely to try and get away from her. It worked, but only for a moment. He reached for his staff, but Mya was faster, her blade came down like lightning. The tip had chipped the ground. The mage looked over at his arm. It was lying on the ground. She had cut it off. Bleeding down his robe, he began screaming. He kicked and flailed while pushing himself toward his staff. He even whipped his stub of an arm around to fling blood at Mya. She stopped to cover her eyes, and that's what he wanted. Grabbing the staff he began casting again. The murmurs of the chant were frantic as he backed away trying to put some distance between them. Mya knew if he hit her with a fireball, she was going to have a rough time helping Burly.

The spell had charged, but it seemed different, it shot out of the staff, but instead of forward, it went up. Not only that, as she watched it rise, it grew. It reached the climax of it's arch and headed for her. She wasn't sure she was going to be able to dodge it. It was too close and it was several arm lengths wide. There might even be splash damage, if she was too close. She chose to evade anyway. Pushing with everything she had, she jumped to the side. The fire bomb burned her left arm and leg. It stung and caused her to limp for a moment. The sorcerer was still trying to cast more, but Mya could see the blood loss was taking it's toll. She walked toward him, sword in hand, face cold and focused. The mage quivered, in a desperate attempt to defend himself from her advance, he cast out the spell before completing the incantation. It was weak, the flame wasn't bright and the spell was much smaller and slower than normal. Mya's eyes flashed as she saw it. She held up her small leather shield and batted it away. Her arm was in pain the most and this sorcerer would pay for that. By the time she had closed the gap, he was slowly slumping to the ground, clearly losing consciousness. Mya's rage was boiling over, torturing humans, attacking the village, calling them weak, this sorcerer wasn't going to get off that easy.

Mya thrust her sword into his shoulder and he screamed in agony. She twisted it and ripped it out. She kicked him over, looking down at him, she muttered "you're the bane of this land." She grabbed the staff and threw it well beyond his reach. He would die shortly, so if he didn't have his staff, he wasn't a problem. Turning back toward Burly, she could see the fight raged on. The surroundings were all but destroyed and the knight seemed a fatigued with his armor dented from Burly's blows. Running back toward them, the knight had made a mistake, he had swung down at Burly and missed and his ax hit right inbetween two of the stone blocks in the ground. It wedged itself tight. He pulled back and realized it wasn't coming loose. Burly made no hesitation, he widen his stance, reeled his hammer back and swung with every ounce of strength he had. The swing was clean and the only sound it made was the sound of metal hitting ground.

Mya walked up and kicked the rolling helmet to the side as it left a blood trail. "So," she smiled at him, "I think you might have won that one." He was bent over, trying to recover a bit, but started laughing. "Right you are, haha, right you are. Guess that puts us one for one!" They stopped talking and even stopped moving for a minute. Burly had some nasty gashes on his arm and torso, not to mention Mya was still nursing her burns. She handed him some medicinal ointment for the gashes, "can't have you bleeding out like our knight friend here." "Aye, thanks." He applied the ointment. Once they had recovered a bit, they set about to explore the rest of the cells.

As they looked they found a cell door in the far back locked, they looked in and could see someone chained to the wall further in. It was dark so they couldn't quite make them out. The door was made out of iron and with out a key, they weren't getting in. Looking to Burly, "bet our friend had some keys on him." He nodded as she turned and walked back to the headless corpse. She searched his belt and pouch for anything useful. She found a spare medicine pouch. That was a good find. They hand't used any of their medicine other than some of the ointment, but you couldn't have too many healing items. The knight didn't have any keys. Maybe the mages? Trying the first one she had killed, she got lucky and found a ring with several keys on it. Removing them and making sure he didn't have any other goodies, she went back to Burly to try the keys on the cell door.

...


	7. Chapter 6 - Battered

It was the first key on the ring she had tried that did the trick. The lock popped open. Mya reached in her bag as they entered the cell pulling out a torch, she lit it so they could see. Despite all the battles she took part in up until now, regardless of the diseases she saw back in Rimuldar, the sight in front of Mya right now almost made her ill. The floor all around the man was red. She could see different dried layers of blood smeared around. It looked like what she thought might be small strips of skin scattered about, they were smooth cuts. Those demons must have carved them off him. She moved her gaze to the man. His wrists were raw and bloody, likely from pulling against his restraints as well as the weight of his body pushing down on them when he was slumped to the ground. He had small and large cuts all over his arms and chest, some even still dripped with blood. His head hung low and he wasn't moving, but she knew it was Maxi. He was wearing a torn yellow mask with horns.

Burly had stopped walking toward him. He was deathly silent. It felt like ages had passed in that silence. "Maxi?" He could only whisper his friend's name. Only the Goddess knows what this man endured, but Mya wasn't even sure he was still alive. They stood there waiting and unsure what to do. Finally they heard it, "Uuuugh, Bur..." just as faint as Burly. "MAXI! GODDESS ABOVE, YOU'RE ALIVE!" Burly ran to him, but he stopped short of his friend, he didn't know what to do or where to start. He was no healer and he hadn't the faintest idea if moving him was a good idea. "Maxi, oh mate, what did these bastards do to ya?!" Burly's voice quivered a bit as he dropped to his knees to try and get a better look at his friend. She hadn't imagined Burly to be the emotional type, but Mya could only imagine what this scene was like for him.

Burly turned his head to Mya, only barely keeping his composure, "please lass, this is more your area than mine..." he trailed off. "Sorry Burly, I was just in shock. I'll help him right now. We need to get these chains off him." She grabbed the ring of keys she found earlier, maybe one of the other keys was for the chains. She tried all three but it was no good. "Damn it. Burly, there was the second sorcerer out there, further out toward the front that I had to chase down. I didn't check that one." Burly scrambled to get up. He didn't know how to help his mate, but Alefgard be damned if he wasn't going to do what he could.

Left alone for a moment with Maxi, Mya wanted to push him back against the wall. Leaning forward hanging from the chains was causing the wrist links to dig deeper into his arms. It wasn't until now that Mya had noticed how much larger Maxi was than Burly, or even Glutimus. He had a similar build sure, but he was easily a head or two taller than Mya and twice as wide. He was heavy but she spoke softly as she pushed him, "hey there, I want to help but I need to get you to lean back against the wall, alright?" He grunted quietly trying to move with her help. "Maxi, right?" She didn't know what to say or how to react, but she was crushed at the sight of him battered and bloody. "Burly is looking for the key for your chains. While he's looking, I'm going to start trying to clean and heal some of your wounds. That ok with you?" He made a soft sound. She took that as an agreement.

His outfit was dirty, much like the rest of him. She pulled out a couple cloths began to clean around the larger cuts. He had a bad one on this right shoulder and one in his chest. Carefully wiping away the dirt, she decided to speak to Maxi while she helped. Talking helped her stay calm while trying to not let the scene get to her. "If something hurts or I do something that is painful, just let me know and I can stop." He didn't respond, but she kept the conversation going. Maybe just hearing someone would help. "Once Burly is back we'll make sure you get some rest before we travel home. I'm sure you're tired." She felt like she was rambling and when she looked at him she wasn't even sure if he hadn't passed back out. Applying some of the ointment to his chest, she could see the wound slowly begin to heal itself.

Several minutes later, footsteps were growing louder outside the cell door. Burly walked in with a set of keys in his hand. "Found these on a table in another room, that ugly sap ya gutted didn't have anything on him." Mya nodded to him and took the keys, "Hey Burly, if these work, help keep him up until the chains are off. Once he's free, we should lay him down." Burly nodded, his entire demeanor was solemn and he did everything Mya asked. "Yes! That worked!" Mya had whispered in victory. One of the keys unlocked the restraint holding Maxi's left wrist. She removed the second shackle. Both the companions slowly lowered Maxi down. "Ok Burly, I think it'll be best if I continue treating his wounds for today and maybe in the morning after most of the medicine has kicked in, we can travel back to Kol." Burly agreed. "Can I ask you to keep watch for a bit after I am done treating him?" He nodded again.

Mya quickly set up a few bed rolls she had stashed in her bag. They managed to get Maxi on one so he could, hopefully, be more comfortable for the night. Mya still felt guilt seeing Maxi. Knowing that it was almost certainly his yelling they had heard the night before, she couldn't shake the feeling. She knew there wasn't anything she could do, but it didn't help her feel any better. Burly laid down but wasn't able to sleep so he watched Mya as she did what she could for Maxi. After a couple hours of careful tending, Maxi had been cleaned up and bandage as best as possible. She glanced toward Burly, "hey try to get some sleep, I'll be up a little longer. I've got to try and get him to eat some of the medicinal herbs I brought." Burly didn't directly acknowledge her this time, he just rolled over and tried to sleep a bit.

She propped Maxi's head and shoulders up a bit and laid him in her lap. She carefully removed the torn mask. She hadn't looked at his face much, since the larger and more severe looking wounds on his body needed immediate attention. Peeling the leather away slowly and taking the top portion away, Mya realized that there were metal plates in the top sections of the mask. The guys had been wearing a helmet of sorts. 'Smart," she thought. The fire that had been built flickered and gave her enough light to see his face. She had been wrong. Maxi's face was pretty beat up too. The mask had likely prevented too much damage to his skull, but his face didn't get away unscathed. He was bruised badly and his right eye was completely swollen, along with his lip. She couldn't even tell what he normally looked like because of all the swelling.

Mya needed him up for a moment to take the medicine. She touched his jaw and spoke quietly, "Hey Maxi, can you hear me?" Nothing for a few moments and then she felt a response. He nodded a little. "Ok good. Look I know everything probably hurts, but I have some medicine for you. I need you to take it." He nodded slightly again. She reached into her bag and pulled out two doses. He needed at least that much, between the external and internal bleeding, and he probably had more than a few broken bones. The medicine should reverse a lot of that, but being this severe he wouldn't recover immediately. It would slowly heal over the course of the night.

She took out the medicine and mixed it with a little water until it was more mush than a compressed tablet. Grabbing a portion of the softened dose, she slid her finger into the front of his mouth and opened his jaw a bit. His body tensed a little. Broken. 'Damn,' she thought, 'they really did a number on him.' Almost impulsively she spoke, "I'm sorry Maxi, I know it hurts, but this should help make that better." He nodded, he understood but that didn't alleviate the pain from moving his jaw. As slow and easy as she could, she fed him the medicine. "You thirsty at all, might help wash the taste down too?" She knew she was helping but she still felt terrible for him. He nodded again, she propped him a little higher and gave him some water.

After cleaning his face and addressing any remains wounds she could see, Mya sat back. Her back was to the wall and Maxi was still lying in her lap. She had unconsciously been stroking his cheek. She was tired. She had an intense battle earlier and spent the afternoon and early evening tending to Maxi. She fell asleep sitting there. Burly saw she had passed out and decided to get up and patrol the grounds. They couldn't be sure if any other monsters would come to check in on the place, but best to stay on their guard. It wasn't as if Burly could sleep anyway. He quietly left the cell and walked the length of the small fortress. As he approach the armless mage from earlier, he couldn't stop himself from kicking it's corpse. "Damn you, ya bastards," he breathed.

Just before dawn, Mya had stirred. Sleeping sitting on the hard ground left her stiff and sore. Looking down she saw Maxi was still laying in her lap. On the bright side much of the bruising and cuts were practically healed, or at least what she could see in the dim light. While she wasn't sure about the damage everywhere else, at least that was a good sign. Gently moving him off her, she set his head on his bed again. Getting up, she looked around. Burly wasn't there.

She left the cell and decided to see if he was close by. She heard some noise out front, it almost sounded like fighting. She pulled out her sword and ran toward the noise. As she stepped out, Burly was just finishing off a scorpion that had wandered close to the fortress. He was actually surrounded by other dead creatures, the desert rodents and slimes numbered at least a dozen. Burly was taking out his frustration on the local monsters and wildlife that made the unfortunate decision to wander near. "Hey friend, you doing ok?" Mya was concerned, but this was likely the best way for Burly to handle everything. "Yeah... yeah, I just... just needed to move a bit." He trailed off as he looked out north in the direction Kol was. "Well, hey, Maxi is looking much better this morning and I think if he feels up to it, we can head home." Burly grunted. Nothing else was said, both Mya and him walked slowly back to the cell to check on Maxi.

When they walked in, they noticed Maxi was sitting up. He must finally be recovering enough to move on his own. That was the best sign they could have seen from him. He had grabbed his mask and put it back on as well. It was still torn around his jaw and mouth, it looked odd showing part of his face. "Aye Mate! Ya finally getting off your lazy arse?!" Burly was obviously glad to see his friend awake and moving. "MY lazy arse? HA! You're the damned lazy bones who took forever to kill that knight. What's wrong with you, getting out o' shape? Maybe you've gotten soft with no one to show you how it's done!?" Maxi had jabbed back and Burly was excited his friend had the energy to insult him. Mya laughed a little, most people would have simply told their friend they were glad to see them, but these guys showed their affection by flinging insults at each other. "Ah right, you're the lass that was helping him with them spell slingers, right? Managed to see a bit from in here. And ya nursed me back to health?" Maxi didn't actually turn to her, he was mostly just staring forward. She wondered if he could see much yet, he did take a lot of damage to his face.

"Yes, that was me. I'm glad to see you can move today," she was smiling and he could hear it in her voice. "Well, as I'm sure you guessed from this troll's backside's constant rattling, my name's Maxi. I think you even used it when you were talking to me, but I figure I'd introduce myself a bit more proper-like." "Shuuut uuup ya pig's foot! You right ought to be thanking Mya too, not just stating the obvious!" Burly retaliated. "OI! I was gettin' there!" Maxi began moving in an attempt to stand. Mya and Burly rushed over to help him up. "Well now, might need to get myself hurt a bit more often if I'm going to have a couple of weird looking chicken fighters, to carry me around." Burly responded before Mya could even process the insult. "You're damn lucky you're still beaten up, otherwise I'd wallop ya myself." Maxi laughed a good bit while they managed to get him standing. She almost felt offended but realized that the insult was probably coming from the same place they all did, his affection. She smiled a bit, he was grateful even if he hadn't said it outright.

Mya had Maxi stand there for a few moments while she looked over his wounds. "Alright," she started, "Can you walk at all?" He moved a bit. It was clear he was sore and stiff. Despite the medicines reversing the worst of it, he still had a few days of recovery before he was back to one hundred percent. "Hmmmm..." she had contorted her face a bit and Burly didn't like it, "what's wrong lass? Something else wrong with the giant?" Maxi snorted a bit, no retort he just waited for Mya to respond. "The trek back to Kol is a long one, especially in his condition...", she was considering another option and the guys could tell. "Well I brought Chimera wings with me, but I'm worried that'll be a rough ride for Maxi." Maxi didn't say anything for a moment then turned to Mya, "Aye, I've heard of those. They let you fly to safety right? Usually a base or homestead of some kind?" Mya was surprised, she usually had to explain her items to others but Maxi already knew what it was. "Yes, that's right. But it the flying part that worries me. It's not always a smooth flight and I'm concerned about you getting hurt." Burly chuckled, "careful there Mya, you keep coddling the lump of fat, and he'll be useless by the time we drag 'im back to Kol." Maxi swung his arm out and smacked Burly's chest, "let the lass think, ya banshee."

Mya had decided they would leave in a few hours; after more of the medicine had time to work. With the spare time, Mya went out and gathered parts and useful bits from Burly's morning workout. 'This way Burly was able to deal with his frustration,' she bent over a slime, 'and I can make sure these kills weren't a waste.' They cleaned up camp and had Maxi move around some more before deciding to risk the chimera wing. "I'm feeling great now. Fit as a fiddle." Maxi was definitely moving better, more fluid and a lot less stiff. "Ok, but I'm still nervous so when we go, both Burly and I will hold on to you and hopefully keep you braced." She was trying to think what was worse, the long trek with monsters or the flight home. While neither were appealing, but the monster infested desert sounded much worse and she had more healing supplies back at Kol if something happened.

"Alright, Burly go to the other side of Maxi and grab him. Maxi please make sure you hold on to us." Mya had pulled out her chimera wing from her bag. "Oh see now, this was all so Burly could feel a what a real bodybuilder is like!" Maxi jabbed but Burly has always ready to trade blows, "HA! You just wanna feel my arse and cuz ya can't squat like I do!" The men were laughing. Mya found that their light-hearted insults really lifted her spirits. "Ok you too, that's enough for now. I think we are all ready to go home?" The men nodded. Burly came up and grabbed his friend, jokes aside, he didn't want to see his friend get hurt. Mya stood beside Maxi, and this was when she realize just how large Maxi was. She felt incredibly tiny next to him. Burly's comment crossed her mind again, he was probably terrifying in a fight.

Mya used the wing. The feathers spread out and separated and began to swirl around the group, Mya pictured Kol in her mind. The breeze spinning around them gently lifted them off the ground. Then without warning, they shot up into the air. "HOLY SHITE!" Burly was shouting from the quick departure. Maxi was laughing again. Mya held on to Maxi tightly, even though she felt like a tiny mouse trying to protect a large dog. "Burly! Keep Maxi steady!" she called. "Right Lass!" After the initial shock and adjusting to the speed, both Burly and Maxi were pretty quiet. Mya imagined they hadn't seen the land from this height, so they were probably taking it in. Within 10 minutes they could see the town of Kol. "The landing should be like the take off. We're almost there." Mya was ready to be on the ground again.

It was late afternoon as they approached and the sun was set low in the sky. A pretty orange light had covered the town. They landed and Maxi seemed fine. She was grateful to the Goddess for that. But now in the late afternoon, she felt exhausted from the trip and a definite lack of decent sleep. Glutimus came bounding up and the insults flew back and forth between the three men. Mya was definitely liking Kol more by the day. Just before parting ways and letting Maxi go relax in the baths, Glutimus turned to Mya and Burly. "Haha, looks like Burly and the Builder are showing them monsters how to lose a fight!" Burly shouted an "AYE!" But Maxi interrupted, "Builder?" "Ah right, there probably wasn't time for that, Mya here is the great and legendary Builder or some such thing. I don't know about that too much, but she's the one who fixed up Kol and made sure the baths were working again!" Glutimus may have been avoiding the parts where he tried to kick her out, but Mya didn't correct him. Burly's stomach grumbled and Glutimus responded "I agree! I'm famished, let's go get some grub." Mya giggled as they wandered toward the kitchen.

Maxi was still standing next to her. She turned to see if something was the matter. He had turned and even with the torn mask, she could see he was staring at her. She wasn't really sure what to say, she didn't know why he was staring. Finally, "I've heard of you. Cantlin and Rimuldar, am I right?" She nodded. That was twice now Maxi had shown he had more knowledge than most people. So much for being some dumb brute. He smiled, despite the light bruising that was left, Mya thought he had a nice smile. He stood there a moment longer and then, "Ya know, Mya, if my face hadn't been so bashed up, and I could've actually seen who was taking care of me last night, I might have played wounded a bit longer so I could've stayed in your lap." Mya's eyes widened. Maxi had already turned and started toward the baths. 'Did he... was that...' Mya was a bit shocked. She was pretty sure she hadn't ever been complimented on her looks before, but that's what it sounded like. Or she thought that's what he meant. She was still pretty taken aback.

Mya would sleep better that night compared to the prior to evenings, but it did take her a while to fall asleep. She was stewing on what Maxi said. She was sure she was overthinking it and he hadn't meant much by it. Finally once she fell asleep, she was able to properly rest for the night.

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	8. Chapter 7 - Blush

The next morning, Mya woke up and she had felt pretty groggy despite sleeping so much better. She got dressed and headed out of the small room she had made for herself. She decided as more people joined, she would need to come up with better living quarters and private spaces. As she exited the building she realized it was midday already, the sun was bright and high in the sky. 'I slept until the MIDDLE OF THE DAY!' She was furious with herself. 'I lost half a day to being a lazy bum. I still have so much work to do, I can't afford to do that.' She was lost in thought and angry at herself, when she bumped into Glutimus. "Hey there, Builder. Maxi actually filled me in on all the stuff you've been doing. Saving towns and fighting back against the Dragonlord! He really broke it down for me. I'm real glad ya came! Now I'm more sure than ever we can save Barbella with you on our side." He was clearly excited about her being there, though Mya was a little irritated he had obviously not believed her before. Before he could get carried away with grand plans to save Barbella, she walked away.

She opted to get breakfast, or lunch at this hour, before beginning to work on the town again. She headed over to the kitchen and she smelled something delicious as she walked in. It smelled so good she stopped and really breathed it in while closing her eyes. It caused her stomach to growl a bit. "Heh well if ya were that hungry, all ya had to do was ask." Maxi was over by the cooking fire and it looked like he was roasting some kind of meat and frying up some eggs. Mya was a little embarrassed that he heard her stomach growl, but she couldn't say no to that smell. Approaching the cooking area, Maxi blocked her. "Sorry lass, but ya gotta let a man work. Besides, I've seen what you've done with the place, the least we can do is make sure ya aren't hungry." His head was angled down to her, she noticed he had fixed his mask, or replaced it. "Well Alright, can I at least stay here while you cook?" Mya inquired. Chuckling a bit Maxi responded, "sure thing, pull up a chair and try not to let that stomach of yours cause a ruckus." Mya felt her cheeks flush. He had definitely heard her stomach.

Maxi finished cooking and brought her a plate filled with cooked fish, a small piece of steak, eggs and fried cactus. It smelled amazing. She was salivating trying to be patient while he set it down. "Mmmmmm, Maxi..." she inhaled again, "that smells divine." "Heh careful there lass, you make noises like that when saying my name, and you'll give me the wrong idea." Mya must have been almost as red as her hair scarf because Maxi was couldn't stop laughing. "You're mighty easy to fluster aren't ya?" He pushed the plate toward her. "Come on now, Builder, I know you plan to work on the town today. You need to eat and keep yourself healthy." Mya didn't look at Maxi for fear of embarrassing herself further. Without much effort however, she devoured her plate. "That was delicious Maxi, thank you for cooking for me. It's nice to have a meal prepared by others every once in a while." Mya stood up to leave. Maxi strolled back over to her.

"Before ya head out to work on one of your projects, if it's alright, I'd like to ask a favor." He paused, "I feel a bit selfish asking this after everything you've done for me but I'd like to ask anyhow." She looked at him expectantly. "The baths, you did a good job getting them back into shape, but I was hoping we might be able to really upgrade them a bit." He waited for Mya to protest but she just stood there. "Well ya see, I know Glutimus explained the whole symbol part to ya, and he's right, but I was also thinking it should be where we go to relax and also to help us focus and get ready for battle." Mya was a bit confused and her face showed it. "I was thinking some decorations, like mounted swords and the like." He stopped again, Mya started nodding. "I see. I suppose that couldn't hurt. Shouldn't be too much work to fix them up a bit more. I had already figured I wanted to decorate, so I think I can come up with something." Mya was concentrating on coming up with some ideas similar to what Maxi was asking. "Heh, well that's great. If anyone around here is going to know how to get us all hot and bothered, it'd be you." Mya felt herself blush again. He was teasing her and she didn't know how to react. She finally was able to respond, "look just because you throw some compliments out there or whatever, doesn't mean I'll always just give what you want." She turned on her heel, feeling her entire body flush with embarrassment, and practically stormed out of the kitchen. She could hear Maxi laughing behind her, and that made her feel even more awkward.

Coincidently, it was actually pretty easy to make some armor and weapon inspired pieces to hang up in the baths. It was actually fun too. These kinds of projects let her be creative without feeling the pressure of high stakes, life or death, types of situations. She ended up reinforcing the walls and cleaning the baths as she decorated. She was just finishing up when Maxi walked into the bath house. "You're something else... This place has never looked better." He startled her a bit since she was focused on straightening one of the mounted swords. Wiping her hands clean of polish and turning to face him she smiled. "Well I have to admit, this kind of thing is pretty enjoyable." Maxi agreed and walked over to her at the back wall. "Thank ya. I mean that. The whole gang will appreciate this. Whether it's resting up for a fight or relaxing after one, this will be a fine place to get some R&R" She smiled. Mya knew how much these guys like their baths. But just when she thought they were done, Maxi leaned over to her, resting his arm on the wall behind her. It was with her back to the wall, that she realized again just how large Maxi was. He literally had to lean down to get eye level with her. He spoke softly through his mask, "I wanted to say sorry for earlier. I was only teasing ya. It's just hard to stop when ya make it so easy." She looked away, she was pretty sure she was blushing again especially with him so close.

Maxi didn't want her to feel too uncomfortable so he leaned back and started to leave. "Yo— You're welcome..." Mya stuttered out. She couldn't tell if he was smiling or not, but Maxi had stopped and then continued on. 'What in Goddess's name is WRONG with me?!,' she thought to herself as she cleaned up her tools and left the bath house.

She bumped into Burly and chatted about weapons for Glutimus and Maxi. She realized that would be a bit of a project, Burly's hammer took the better part of a day. Glutimus would have something similar, but to make something for Maxi was going to take more materials and a bit more time since it would end up larger. She made plans to head out for materials the next day so she could craft them some decent weapons for the battles to come.

By the end of the week, Mya had constructed both copper hammers. Glutimus wasn't likely to use his, but it'd be good for self defense, she thought. She actually had to have Maxi come to her workshop to pick up his. It was pretty heavy, she could lift it, but it was easier to just have him get it rather than haul it across town. He seemed really impressed with her work. She watched as he picked it up, it had to have been at least a good 70 or 80 lbs. He made a quick half swing with one arm. Mya realized Maxi was going to be one hell of a fighting companion. She told him if something seemed off or he wanted something changed on it, to just bring it back and she'd fix it up for him. Grateful, he thanked her and headed out. As Mya was cleaning up, she felt agitated and she didn't know why. Shaking it off, she finished straightening up the shop and headed over to the kitchen.

All the guys were there. Maxi was cooking again, and the insults were in every other sentence as they chatted about how many monsters they each killed. Mya sat down and waited for dinner. "Hey there lass," Burly turned to her, "Me an' the lads here were talking and we think we know where Barbella is." Glutimus was always extra attentive whenever Barbella was brought up. "Aye, it's actually thanks to ol' Maxi that we might have something." They all turned to face the large man in the kitchen. "Well," he started, "when you and chicken legs came and busted me out of that fine prison, I hadn't said much since I couldn't even really stay awake." Mya nodded so he knew she was listening. "Hmm, while I was there, the monsters where actually trying to get information out of me. They were trying to see if I knew anything about Barbella and her time with her inventor friend." Maxi stopped long enough to check the food. "They were hoping with enough pain, I might be willing to spill the beans. I didn't tell them anythin', but honestly I didn't know much. I knew that her and her friend were researching some stuff about weapons and the like, but no specifics or anything." Maxi had begun to plate some of the food and pass it out to them. "But the dumb bastards slipped up and mentioned where they were holding her. They have a large fortress on an island near Kol. I'm not sure how we'll get there, but we'll figure something out." Maxi sat down at the table between Burly and Glutimus but across from Mya.

They all ate their dinner with no complaints. Maxi was a good cook, especially with such limited ingredients. Glutimus mentioned something about needing another bath. Mya rolled her eyes. He left and Burly finally finished up and headed out to his bedroom. Mya was still there with Maxi. It was a bit quiet since they were still eating. Mya was trying to figure out why she was so irritated earlier after Maxi left the shop. Her project went well, he liked the hammer so what was digging at her? She decided she needed to change her focus, so she tried starting a conversation with Maxi. He obliged, not one to tell Mya no since he felt he owed her a great deal for the rescue and all the follow up healing. "So... if it's not too personal or anything," she glanced around, "do you guys ever take off those masks? I mean I know you lift them up to eat, but here in town you don't need to have them on all the time." Maxi was silent for a few moments. "Habit." He finally answered and began undoing the back of the helmet-like mask. Mya wasn't sure why but she was anxious. Except when he had been beaten and battered, she hadn't really seen his face. Before she could see anything, he finished answering, "we've spent our whole lives fighting and in fear of the monsters that rule these lands. You basically live in your armor, whatever it is." It hadn't occurred to Mya that they had literally spent all the years of their lives in terror and torment of the monsters. She had only been awake for about a year and half. This was their entire life.

He placed the bright yellow and horned mask on the table. Mya stared at Maxi. His hair was a dirty blonde, and not only that, it was at least a few inches long. Since the mask came all the way down and wrapped around their necks, she hadn't even thought they might have longer hair. She wasn't sure what she thought, maybe that they were all bald? He had hazel eyes, the outer rim almost golden. He had some scars on his cheeks, some were probably newer. Chiseled described his body, but it was also how she might explain his jaw line. His nose was almost regal except, it had clearly been broken more than once so it was now slightly crooked. It didn't take Mya long, but she knew staring at this man, she genuinely had found someone attractive. She hadn't noticed but her mouth had gaped a little. "That bad huh? Maybe I should keep the mask on so I don't scare ya off," he jested. "NO!... I mean no. That's not necessary." Mya glanced away a bit flushed by her own reaction. "I guess, I just hadn't expected you to look like that." He smiled, "look like what exactly? I'm not sure if I should be offended or not." Mya stared down at her plate. She had no idea what to say without feeling awkward. "Well," she began, "you, uh, you look a bit noble... or something." "AHAHHAHA, you mean like a prince?" Maxi got a kick out of that.

Mya immediately stood up and went to clean her dish. She did everything she could to avoid eye contact. She washed her plate and put it away. She was trying to figure out how she would get passed Maxi or find something else to keep herself busy. Hearing the chair scrap against the ground, she heard footsteps coming toward her. She was positive her heart was going to burst through her chest. He cornered her again, arm on the wall, his large body practically encircling her. "Tell me little Builder," He smiled wide and she felt herself blush, "how is it you've saved practically half of Alefgard, but a few compliments and some suggestive comments completely disarm you?" Mya couldn't talk. She was overwhelmed by him being so close. She had opened her mouth to say something, anything, but she was silent and just stared. He slid his free hand to the small of her back. She basically chirped in response. Mya had no idea how red she was, but she wasn't sure it was possible her face could get any hotter.

He stood there lightly holding her. He waited. He wanted her to answer his question. After a few moments, Mya cleared her throat and tried to speak, "I— I've never r-really had anyone say things like that to me before. Everyone tends to make fun of my appearance..." Unconsciously, she grabbed part of her long white hair that hung over her shoulder and glanced at the ground. Maxi removed his hand from her back. He breathed out. He placed his now free hand on the wall behind her, both of his arms on either side of her shoulders. He leaned down far enough so that their eyes met. "If anyone so much as makes an offhand comment about the way ya look, I'll make sure they never do it again." She felt herself blush furiously again. "But I also see now why I get you so worked up." Dropping his left arm he leaned in close to her right cheek and whispered, "sorry little Builder, I'm going to be a bit selfish again but then I'll stop." He lightly kissed her cheek then backed away and left the kitchen.

Mya was sure she was going to die right there. Her chest was pounding and she couldn't make it stop. If she could form a full thought she would, but she couldn't even process what just happened. If anyone else walked in they might think she spent too long in the baths. After a couple minutes, Mya was able to move. Opting to sit at the table for a moment, she pulled up a chair. 'What... just... happened...?' She was completely flabbergasted. There was no way she was going to be able sleep. Maybe going to the baths wasn't be a bad idea. The hot water might help her calm down a bit.

She went into the bath house and undressed herself. Wearing only her undergarments, she stepped into the hot water. Sitting down and leaning back, she let the heat envelope her body. 'What am I going to do? I have no idea how to behave around him? Oh Goddess! Why am I such a mess?' Her thoughts continued to spin for well over a half hour. She felt herself getting a bit overheated and decided to get out. She dried off and put her clothes on. She walked across the small town to her room. Maxi was on the very front of her mind and he probably wasn't going to leave it anytime soon.

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	9. Chapter 8 - Strategy

After yesterday evening, every time Mya saw Maxi, she half panicked and tried to find a way to avoid him. He didn't chase her or corner her like before, he just went about his business like usual. She felt pretty torn about the whole situation. Part of her was petrified and the other part wanted him to just come over and interact with her. A thought did pop into her head at one point, "so does he really think I'm attractive?" No one had ever said anything like that to her, so she had felt like maybe she was a bit ugly. She thought back to her time in Cantlin. She had found an old mirror in an abandoned castle. It was the first time she had seen a clear image of herself. Her hair and eyes were extremely pale, but she hadn't thought she was unattractive. Maybe those things are too much though, maybe because she didn't look like other women, most thought she looked too different to be appealing.

For the majority of the next week, Mya continued to build up the town. She planned out rooms and various workshops and even built an inn. Figuring there was a chance more people might join the town, she wanted to be sure there were were a few attacks, but they weren't too much for the boys to handle. A few days later as the sun was setting low, she heard Glutimus yelling from around the south of town. "OIIII! There's a big group of them baddies 'eaded this wayyy!" Before they even saw them, Burly, Maxi and Mya all armed themselves and headed to the south entrance of town. They saw the monsters heading toward Kol. It was a small platoon of knight errants. "This doesn't look good," Mya said to the guys without breaking eye contact with the approaching force. "If the first wave is all them ugly knights... what's comin' after?" Burly vocalized what they were all thinking. "Well, no messin' around then. We crush 'em fast." Maxi was fully healed by this point, so he was participating in the fights now too.

The knights came. They charged the small group of defenders. There were three knight errants for each warrior defending Kol. Dodging charges, Mya did what she did best, she let the fiends expose themselves so she could strike where it hurt the most. Burly was busy denting and bruising his opponents. Maxi on the other hand, ended up working faster than either of the other two. When the first knight charged, rather than simply evade, he swung his hammer as the knight went passed and removed his head off in one blow. The second came at him from the right, it's ax grazed his arm but that left the knight open to be grabbed. Maxi twirled the knight around by his exposed arm, and moved behind him. Placing his foot on the knights back to press him down, he twisted the arm. The metal scratched against other portions of armor, you could hear bones snapping and there was popping sounds. Had Mya not been busy with her own monsters, it might have made her cringe. To finish the job, Maxi took his hammer and smashed the top of the helmet, crushing it's head. The third had stopped its charge and for good reason. Both of his companions were basically child's play for the giant man with the hammer. The Knight decided to try and overwhelm the woman since she was still dealing with two of her three knights. Maxi saw him change his focus in the direction of Mya. He wasn't happy about that. As the knight charged, Maxi sprinted and swung his hammer low under the knight's shield. The knight lost balance and tripped. Before he could even begin to recover, he saw a large hammer coming toward his face.

Burly had finished two of his three knights, so Maxi opted to assist Mya. He began to move toward her and the two monsters. He watched her fight. He had found it interesting that she wasn't very strong, like the guys or even Barbella, but she still fought. He noticed she was fast though, and that she always seemed to know just where to stick that sword of hers. Before he could finish covering the distance to her, one of the knights slipped up and bashed his weapon against a rock, shocking himself for a moment. With no hesitation, Mya was on him her sword neatly sliding between the shoulder covering and the chest piece, under his arm. She pierced it's heart. It cried out as she drew her sword and herself back. The knight was still alive, but he wouldn't be for long. It was bleeding all over itself. 'Guess she doesn't need my help," Maxi thought. 'But... I'd still like to save her.' He approached the two entangled fighters and used their distraction with each other to his advantage. As the knight was focused on Mya, Maxi came, as if from no where, and landed a huge blow to the knight's side. The armor caved inward. Both bone and metal cracked from the force. The knight stood and then slumped down. Mya looked at the defeated knight, 'he really is scary on the battlefield' she thought. "Thanks," Mya called. She was always glad for the assistance.

Burly had just wrapped things up with his final opponent and came over to them. Breathing a bit heavily, "H-hey how's everyone doin'?" "Good, either of you need any medicine or ointment?" Both refused, seemed like they got out of the initial wave with minimal damage. That was good too, because they weren't thrilled about what came next. Just like the fight before Maxi was rescued, they found themselves surround by fire. "DAMN, Find the sorcerers and take them out!" Mya shouted instructions as she dodged incoming swipes from the flaming fiends. The sorcerers were further out but they were coming in closer to cause more havoc with their spells. As soon as Mya saw one, she dashed. She managed to dodge the first couple of spells. Closing the gap, she wasn't interested in messing around since there was more than one of these mages. She needed to hurry. Not familiar with humans that fought back so fervently, the first sorcerer was a bit shocked at her charge. Her sword was in his throat before he could even start his next chant. Pulling it out and blood flinging around, she spotted another spell caster.

Maxi and Burly had been keeping the dancing flames busy. They glanced over just as Mya made it to the first sorcerer. "HAHAHA," Burly laughed, "remind me not to piss her off!" Maxi laughed and yelled back, "I don't know it might be kind of fun!" Burly howled, "HAHAHA yer funeral mate!" They moved and dodged as best they could. Any swings, just like before, simply moved through the creatures and didn't harm them. Mya had cleaned up the second caster. Looking over to the guys, there were still a handful of fire monsters. There had to be one more sorcerer, but she wasn't sure where. Then she saw it, right behind Burly light was forming. Teleportation. "BURRRRLLYYY!" She screamed. Burly couldn't see it and wouldn't be able to react fast enough, but Maxi could and did. "DUCK MATE!" Without thinking Burly dropped at his buddy's demand. A large bronze colored hammer flashed over his head. He heard the hammer connect with something, then a moment of silence and then a distant thud. Burly looked back, Maxi had batted the mage 20 feet back into the city wall. The flame creatures were dissipating.

Mya came running up and hugged Burly, "Oh thank the Goddess!" He was a bit surprised but he laughed, "haha come on now lass, ya don't think a little mage could actually hurt me, do ya?" She giggled a little but hadn't let go yet, "no, I suppose not. I guess I was just a bit worried when I saw the teleport magic." She was smiling and finally released him. "I guess I just don't want to see any of my friends get hurt, so I panicked a little. Sorry about that Burly." He shrugged and put his hammer over his shoulder, "well it's nice to know ya care." Mya laughed again, "of course I care." She started walking to the mage that almost got Burly. His robes were different, he was worth searching.

"Pretty sure I was the one who killed that magical bastard and saved him," puffed Maxi after she walked away. "Hehehe, jealous the lass was worried about me and not you?" Burly saw a soft spot and he was going to poke it. "Not even a little, she obviously thinks I can take care of myself," he retorted. "Oh? Then maybe the fact she ran to me and hugged me in excitement? I mean, she not's my usual type but I'd make an exception." Maxi punched Burly's arm. "Ouch Mate! I was only pullin' yer leg!," Burly squawked as Maxi walked away.

Mya was searching the sorcerer's robe when Maxi walked up. "Find anythin' good?" She sighed, "no, not really, I thought he might have something good on him..." she was still rummaging and she saw a small pouch on his belt. Untying it and pulling it off the belt, she opened the small satchel. "YES! This is what we needed!" She held up some kind of engraved stone. Maxi wasn't too sure what it was. "Hmmm, 'fraid I'm not sure what that is." She smiled again, "something you don't know about?" She was teasing him. "Hmph, I never claimed to know everything. It's not my fault half the people ya met didn't know their arse from their face." He was still a little miffed about the hug. Mya stood up. "It's a rune stone. I can use it to make a teleportal. The rune has the proper inscriptions to connect to the teleportal on the other side... of wherever that ends up being." "Oh," he stated. "Hey Maxi," she was speaking softly so they wouldn't be overheard. "Yeah?", he turned to look at her. "Thanks for saving Burly." She looked up to him and smiled, "I'm really glad you're here with us." She started walking back to the south entrance of town. Maxi sighed. It was pretty hard to stay mad when she said things like that.

The next day, Mya had crafted a teleportal from the rune stone. Glutimus was probably the most excited out of everyone. He was sure this was going to take them to Barbella. He could "feel it in his pecs" according to him. Mya informed him she was just going to scout things out and see if there were any decent resources near the entrance. "Well, while your looking, a long time back we used to have iron ore we could mine. Depending on what ya see out there, maybe there's some old mines to check." Glutimus occasionally made some pretty solid suggestions and had some useful information. "Alright but it might have to wait, I'm not sure what I'm going to find." "Well I hope ya aren't planning to head out alone?" It was Burly, he was walking up to the pair.

"I was, but only to scout the area out. Nothing crazy." Mya explained. "Yeah well, considering how we keep getting ambushed left and right everywhere we go, I'm comin' with ya." She could tell she wasn't going to convince him otherwise. "Alright, alright. But don't get upset if we don't cover much ground or find anything." He nodded. They stepped into the portal. It was late morning when they left. It wouldn't be until late the next afternoon until they returned.

When they arrived back in Kol, Glutimus greeted them. "So what did ya find? Is the fortress Maxi heard about there? Was there anything about them mines I told ya about?" Burly ignored him and walked toward the kitchen. Mya dealt with his questions. They had actually found a lot of iron ore and while they didn't venture near, they did spy the fortress. Glutimus started drilling her about what they saw and the two of them chatted about potential plans to get Barbella back. They knew she was alive, she was too valuable to kill. But if they could rescue her sooner rather than later, that was best.

Over in the kitchen Burly was ready to eat a whole 10 cactus streaks. As he dug around in the supplies to see what he could throw together, he heard the door open. "So how was your "scoutin'" mission?" It was Maxi. "It was fine. Turned out I was right and there were plenty of monsters rarin' to go. Mya got all excited about the iron ore, talkin' about new weapons and defenses fer us." He shrugged, more focused on finding something to eat than chatting. "I see." Maxi left. He was headed back to his room when he saw Glutimus and Mya in a slightly heated conversation. He was looking at her. She was getting him all riled up and she hadn't actually done anything. Continuing to make to his way to his room, he heard what was getting Glutimus and Mya all worked up. "BARBELLA NEEDS TO BE RESCUED ASAP!" Mya quickly shot back, "CALM DOWN GLUTIMUS! SHE IS OUR PRIORITY BUT IT DOESN'T DO HER ANY GOOD IF WE DIE TRYING TO SAVE HER!"

Back in his room, Maxi laid down. He had been a little jealous that Burly spent more time with Mya than he did. It was eating at him. But, he didn't want to shove his way into her view and force her to pay attention to him though. After that evening in the kitchen, he realized she wasn't just some woman he could flirt with and she'd know how to play the game. He hadn't been with too many women, mind you, but it was obvious Mya wasn't some seasoned lover. He had a healthy respect for her as a fighter and as the Builder. He definitely found her attractive, but she was sensitive about how she looked. He could admit her pale colored eyes and hair were different, but that didn't take away from how lovely her face was, or the way she looked when she smiled at him. He needed to stop acting like a small kid and just talk and interact like normal. If she was really interested in him, she'd let him know eventually. Or, at least, he was pretty sure she would.

After a few more trips through the portal and a couple loud evenings at the dinner table, Glutimus and Mya had a plan. They knew how they were going to get Barbella back. "After a couple quick trips near the fortress, we realized it was made out of something tougher than the blockades at the fortress we got Maxi out of. On top of that, we spent some time gathering iron ore and I've been working on new weapons for everyone." Mya was going over the plan with everyone. "The iron weapons weren't going to be enough though, so Glutimus came up with a solid idea." Glutimus smiled, nodded and straightened up, clearly gloating about "his" great plan. "There were some designs that were stolen a little before Kol was destroyed. Glutimus had remembered Barbella was pretty angry for a few days about it. So we're guessing, if I can take a look at the plans, I can build whatever it is, and we can save Barbella. It might even be a new weapon" The guys had listened, but it was Maxi who piped up first. "So, where are these plans exactly?" Mya and Glutimus looked at each then at Maxi. In almost perfect unison, " they're in the fortress." Burly seemed a little skeptical, "Cor' so we have to attack the place in order to find a weapon to free Barbella?". "Yeah well, we're all going; Glutimus too," Mya replied. Both Maxi and Burly looked at Glutimus. This was for Barbella, they knew that's why he was doing it. They all agreed they would head out in two days, once preparations were complete.

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	10. Chapter 9 - The Fortress

Everyone was ready to go. The men were still shifting around and swinging their new hammers. The weight was a bit different from the copper, so they hadn't quite adjusted to iron. Even so, Mya was an excellent craftsman, they were sturdy and balanced. Each owner thanked her several times, they hadn't ever had weapons as nice as these before. Being of the few survivors who had actively resisted the Dragonlord's forces, they were able to truly appreciate the gifts. Mya had also spent time reinforcing the walls with her newly found metal. She made small blockades and spent most of the prior day prepping the town since it'd be empty while they went to the large fortress across the sea.

After checking supplies and making sure everyone was geared properly, they stepped into the small portal. The heat caused the air to rush up as Mya came to the other side. Not too far from their starting point, there were large pools of lava. If anyone had thought Kol was hot, they would be mistaken once traveling here. Mya walked out of the light and down the small platform she arrived on. Within seconds, the guys were behind her. The portal had actually placed them on a hill. This conveniently let them see further out. From their current position, they could even see the fortress. "Aye, you were right... That there fortress is giant." Glutimus hadn't gone through the portal yet so this was his first time actually seeing the location.

"We need to give the western most lava pools a wide berth." Mya hadn't elaborated. "Magmalice?" Maxi asked. Burly grunted and nodded for Mya. On their first visit here, Burly and Mya had ventured much closer to the southern lava pools than they had realized. As soon as they had gotten within a few yards of the edge, the center of the lava had risen. The lava was falling away and a large creature shaped like a hand came out and was sticking up. Burly had grabbed her and they ran back. Half melted rocks and magma had been lifted and tossed by the hand. Burly informed her that was the creature that ruled the area and the one behind the attacks on Kol. He hadn't known where Magmalice's lair was, but he did now. After that encounter Mya would occasionally ponder why they only saw a hand and if there was even a way to fight it.

The party from Kol began moving down the hillside and worked their way along the southern edge of the hills. The portal placed them right about northeast of the center of the island and not terribly far from fortress. They made their way to a land bridge that connected to the fortress from their arrival point. There were large stone blockades at what looked like three separate gates. The monsters weren't messing around here. The party was going to have to fight hordes of the creatures while dealing with all the built-in defenses.

"OI! This is going to be one 'ell of a trip," Maxi groaned. Mya nodded. They began moving south on the land bridge to the first gate. Luckily this gate's blockade was already damaged so the party was able to venture through with little resistance. On the other side, they approached a much more dense looking building, more outpost than gate. As they walked into the archway, a large shadow eclipsed the party. A golem emerged from the other side. Mya had actually seen one of these with Burly when they first arrived. They had opted to avoid the creatures since, unlike it's earthen brethren, this golem's body was metallic. This time however, she also had Maxi and Glutimus, not to mention everyone had better weapons. The golem roared and charged the group. Everyone scattered and then regrouped around the giant. As Mya had hoped, their newer weapons were harder than the body of the creature. While it managed to wound the guys, their blows crushed the creature faster than it could recover. Within seconds of the men pounding the creatures legs, it was lying on the ground being flattened.

Mya hadn't really helped much this time, it was half due to her blade not being as effective and half from awe of watching the three men demolish the creature. Once the immediate threat had been dealt with, Mya quickly entered the housed sections of the gate. She decided to go left first. As she opened the door as foul stench rushed up her nose. She coughed and backed out for a moment. "Mya, ya ok?" Maxi was running up to check on her. "Yeah, it's just..." she held her hand to her nose to mitigate the smell. Maxi could smell it too from where they were. "Whatever's in there, it ain't alive." Almost as if to shield her, he moved his arm in front of her and walked in first. Mya followed but covered her nose. A man was lying in the center of the room. They got a little closer, but there was no need to inspect him further. He was dead, and had likely been that way for a while. "Poor bastard," Maxi sighed at the sight of him. "Pretty sure I saw this guy near Kol once. Don't think he ever actually tried to see if he could join us." Not seeing anything of much use, they left the room.

Back outside, Glutimus and Burly had checked the other side. They hadn't found anything of use either. They would need to go in further. Passed the gate house structure, they encountered their first real problem. Nothing connected where they were standing to the main portion of the fortress. It was just lava between them and their goal. The smaller creatures in the area appeared to be made of mud and looked very similar to the Magmalice creature. Mya watched as they entered the lava and came back out. There was no way they could do that. If there was a silver lining, it didn't appear the small mud creatures were aggressive. "Leave the hands alone, save your energy for later." Mya figured the guys already knew that, but she wanted to be sure. She walked to the edge of the dirt and looked down into the molten pool. Burly was already used to this, "Should we watch yer back while ya fix this little problem we've got?" She looked at Burly and nodded. The men fanned out a bit and made a human barricade to Mya's back.

Knowing she should work quickly, lest anything try to attack, Mya pulled out earth and stone piles she stored in her bag. She always thought ahead and it usually paid off. Figuring they might end up having to cross some kind of large obstacle, she came prepared to build a bridge. It wouldn't be pretty or any version of attractive, but it would do the job. She began praying over the tiny earth and stone piles she placed on the ground. They started to grow and rapidly. She took a few steps back. "That really never gets old, lass" Burly chirped. Glutimus and Maxi were also watching and found it just as impressive.

Mya held her hands against the earth and with gentle guiding, it began to form a solid mound about her height. Once she was satisfied with it's height and width, she used the stones and molded steps. "Ya realize that would take us a day or two, ya?" Glutimus spoke up. "Well, I AM making up for potentially hundreds of years of stolen creation." Mya had remarked, unsure how long the world had been in this state."The Goddess blessed me with creation and a couple extra "tools" to get the job done. How else would one person be able to do what I've done... Hahah except for her blessings, I'm just like you guys." She was working as she spoke. "Aye, but I have to disagree with that last part lass," Burly said. "You're not just like us," Maxi cut Burly off and finished his sentence, "You're amazing." Burly turned his head to Maxi but kept speaking to Mya, "Aye, I'd ignore doe-eyes here, but he's right. You're a hell of a fighter and proven to be a good frien'. We wouldn't be here if you hadn't come. That was yer choice lass, ya could've went somewhere else or ignored Kol, but ya came." Mya stopped working for a moment. She had spent a lot of time in the other towns, but it was becoming obvious these guys were going to be something special to her.

She started working again. "You know..." she walked up the steps and began creating and forming the main bridge that would cross above the lava pool. "Kol was nothing like I expected it to be. I can't say I know what I expected, but it wasn't this. And it wasn't meeting a bunch of knuckle heads like you..." She reached into her bag, "but I'm damn glad it was." She didn't turn around. "Goddess..." Burly finally responded," what kind of person insults their friends callin' 'em "knuckle heads'?! I'm hurt!" The men started laughing. "Shut up Burly!" Mya was smiling and trying to focus on forming the bridge.

As she worked her way out, she created thick sections that sat in the lava to support the bridge while she was making it. 'That should hold for a while anyway, just need to make it to the other side. The last stretch wasn't too far but she did end up using a lot of the earth and stone she'd brought. Hoping they didn't have to worry about more lava pools, she wrapped up making the bridge and waved to the guys to make their way across. They walked a bit slow at first but as they move they began to trust the new structure and picked up the pace. They had lost at least an hour and a half to building the bridge.

It was late morning at this point, and they stood at what they figured was the main entrance to the fortress. They looked up. The walls were easily three to four stories high. A loud sigh came from the woman leading the pack. "Time for the real work to start." The gang pulled out their weapons, ready to deal with whatever was inside. Mya approached the stone blockade, just like before but with newer tools, she demolished a small section of the barrier. The party walked in cautiously.

Almost as soon as they were inside, a knight came out of nowhere and charged Mya since she was in the lead. Mya, even though on guard, was surprised by the attack so the knight managed to ram directly into her. The thud from the shield bashing her and the following skidding as she slid across the stone floor, caught everyone off guard. Mya wasn't moving. The guys surrounded the knight. Maxi had made sure he was between the monster and Mya. In less than 30 seconds, the knight was coughing and bleeding on the floor. The rest of the party rushed to Mya's side. Maxi gently nudge her and called out her name. She moaned a little and started to move. Before Burly and Glutimus could do anything Maxi had picked her up and was walking to what looked like some side rooms. "OI! Hold on mate, let us go in first." Burly shouted and they ran to catch up. Burly shoved the open the door and Glutimus was right behind him. The place was empty. There were what looked like small cells and some stench coming from the right one.

Maxi was still holding Mya. She began to stir. "Easy there, that ugly bastard hit ya pretty hard." Maxi sounded concerned. "Ugh... I don't even know what happened. I felt the air leave my chest and my head hurts a little. They hadn't seen it but she had also hit her head when she landed on the ground. "Hey just take it easy," he didn't set her down. "Right," she reached up to her head, it was pounding. "Hey, coast is clear we can hole up in here for a few minutes," Glutimus called to them. Maxi went in and saw the cells, he also eyed a bed roll in the cell. He took Mya to the cell and gently set her on the roll. "Sorry guys, I should be fine in a few minutes." Maxi didn't leave her side. "It's alright lass, none of us were ready for that." Burly consoled her. She took out a herbal tablet. She snapped it in half and took the medicine. After a couple minutes she was feeling better. She stood and was ready to move on. They had designs to find.

They left the cells and began walking to the next part of the fortress. Maxi quickened his pace and moved in the front, "sorry but I'm taking lead here. Just tell me where ya want to go." Mya wasn't going to argue. Even if she did, she was relatively sure he wouldn't budge. They encountered mages and knights almost everywhere they went. They even saw a large troll down one of the wings to the northwest. Mya told them, if they can't find the plans elsewhere, then they could risk the troll down that wing.

They had worked their way pretty deep into the dreary keep. As they walked, Mya suddenly whispered "Do you see that man?" She had stopped and was looking toward a large section of the keep that almost resembled jail cells. The guys looked around, "What guy, lass? I don't see anyone." Glutimus was searching for any sign of human life besides their own. "What do you mean you don't see him? He's right there..." she was still whispering staring directly toward the cells.

"Stay here, I'll be right back." She darted off. Maxi tried to grab her arm but missed. She was moving quickly and quietly. At this moment, he figured if he lumbered over there he would draw more attention and make things worse. Watching her made him anxious, but he couldn't take his eyes off of her. If anything moved toward her, he wanted to be ready to bolt to her side.

She stepped softly around the corner toward the large cells. As she approached she realized, the man hadn't seen her. Or, at least, he wasn't acknowledging her presence. She quickly scanned the area. Behind him she saw large bars and a couple of lit torches on the wall inside the cell. Someone was chained up in there. "Barbella!" She muttered. That caught the man's attention, but he still hadn't said anything to Mya. She moved a bit closer, "Who are you? And why are you in this place? It's dangerous." He seemed taken aback, "You can see me?" Mya nodded and his response also cleared up why the rest of her party couldn't see him. Whoever this man was, he was dead. Mya learned back in Cantlin and even in Rimuldar, that she could see the departed souls of people who were closely tied to locations. "Why are you here?" He didn't even wait for an answer to his first question and became more aggressive. "You said that woman's name. You are not here for her, I hope." Mya looked at the man confused. "You would do well to leave her here. She is not to be trusted." Mya cut in, "I don't understand." "No, I suppose not but know she is a murderer. She belongs here, do not seek her freedom." Mya wanted to ask for more information or try to understand what he meant but he vanished.

Looking toward the cell, she saw the bars trapping Barbella. Glutimus was right, they needed those plans. They didn't have anything that would be able to break those bars. There were also far too many enemies here to try and have the guys break them. It would more likely attract trouble than free Barbella. She headed back to the guys. Maxi was watching her every movement until she was safely inside the group of men again. "What the 'ell, Builder? What were ya bloody doin'?" Glutimus didn't want to be here and side tracking the quest had agitated him. "I... saw someone. I needed to get a closer look." She thought for a moment and considered the dead man's conversation would be better talked about back at Kol. "I found Barbella," she finished. Glutimus almost ran off. "Wait," she hissed. "There is no way we can break her out. I looked at her cage. We HAVE to find those weapon blueprints." Glutimus was internally fighting the urge to run to Barbella. He finally nodded and they moved on.

Moving passed the large cells, the group glanced toward where Barbella was being held. They wanted to go to her, but they needed to stick to the plan. As they proceeded, they came across more monsters and continued their fight inward. Finally they came to what seemed like the end of the line, but there was a door. Upon opening the door, they saw they had found a very storage large room. They saw crates and chests, as well as tables with parchment and other papers. It looked promising. Considering this was in the deepest part of the fortress, there was a good chance what they were looking for was here. Mya was about to walk in and suddenly stopped. "Let's not have a repeat of earlier..." She stared at the ground, she knew she made them worry. Feeling Maxi move close beside her, she looked to him and nodded. Having her friends close by reinforced her resolve, but Maxi somehow comforted her in a different way. She didn't have time to figure out difference though.

Slowly, she walked into the large open room. Nothing jumped out or seemed out of place. She cautiously approached the tables and chests. The guys had spread out and were exploring just as carefully. Mya had found some interesting looking documents when she heard a loud creak. She turned in the direction of the sound. There in a large and darkened alcove, she hadn't noticed when they came in, something moved.

She turned her body to face the darkness. The rest of her group had already gathered near her. Slowly a large, fat leg appeared out of the darkness. Then a belly formed in the light and the rest of the creature stepped out of the shadows. It was a troll. It was easily three times the height of Maxi and just as wide. It's eyes were glowing yellow and wild looking. Light brown and leathery skin stretched around fat round body parts. While the creature was gigantic, it's arms and legs were short compared to it's torso. The fiend's nose was slightly upturned and it's mouth was wide and hung open, allowing anyone to see it's sharp fang-like teeth. It's tongue drooped down and hung. Drool dripped down and oozed on itself and the floor. It's eyes were wide and staring directly at them.

~SssSSssslluuurrrp~ "wha' a tashty lil shnack youuu wiiill be," the troll spoke as he lumbered closer. He was holding a blunt spiked club that was wider than any tree Mya had seen. The weapon would easily crush any one of them. They all slowly backed away from the foul beast.

Mya began moving to the front half of the room where they first entered. She wanted to draw the troll away from the documents and chests in case they ended up smashed. The gang followed her lead and moved with her. Each step the troll took shook the ground. She heard Glutimus swallow. He was probably more frightened than he'd ever been before. To be fair, she was pretty sure if the troll hit her, she would probably die instantly. She strained herself to come up with a plan quickly.

The large slobbering monster was getting closer, she had to act fast. "I'll distracted him," she whispered. "After he swings go straight for his knees. Make sure he can't walk." Before she could hear any type of agreement, she sprinted forward.

The troll laughed, likely because the smallest of the bunch had attacked first. She slid under him and sliced behind his ankle . He howled and turned to swing. Mya was ready, she wasn't planning to fight, she was just trying to stay alive.

The angle of his swing was downward but also a bit more slanted than she anticipated. One of the rounded barbs on his club, caught her arm. She heard a loud snap. An incredibly intense pain shot through her originated from her bicep. She screamed, but not in pure reaction to the pain, she had yelled to the men. Because the beast had looked away, it gave them an opportunity come up behind him. The troll thought he had the upper hand when he saw Mya scream and fall down, but suddenly he felt shooting pain in his legs and he was crashing down too. Maxi had busted the left knee inward while Glutimus and Burly had literally crushed the right knee from both sides.

Mya used her legs to push herself away from the troll. It had fallen forward and it's arms were still close enough to grab her. The growing pain in her arm prevented her from being able to think straight, she simply pushed herself away in panic. One of it's arms reached out to grab her, it's hand wrapping tightly around her foot and calf. It squeezed hard. Mya let out a blood curdling scream. The bones in her foot and leg were being crushed. She had no idea how many places had been broken. "Heheheh... sssssllllurp." The troll should be in pain but it was laughing, Mya was completely panicking at its response. It started dragging her toward itself. Fear completely consumed Mya. 'Am I going to die!?', was the only thought in her mind.

Suddenly the grotesque, oversized creature yelled out. Maxi had put everything into a strike down on it's elbow. The hammer was only an inch away from the ground. The flesh and bone in it's arm ripped down and flattened. Burly had done almost the same amount of damage to the other arm. Glutimus had moved in between the two arms facing it's head, as his companions had destroyed it's remaining limbs.

Mya hadn't ever actually heard Glutimus angry. Sure they argued a bit when it came on how to rescue Barbella. But the rage in his voice could be felt by everyone. "DON' YA DARE TOUCH HER! YA STAY AWAY FROM ALL MY MATES! AND I KNOW YER DIRTY HANDS HURT BARBELLA!" Glutimus sounded almost insane as he screamed. He had widened his stance and lifted his hammer up. The sounds from his strike following his yells, where almost as loud. Mya managed to lift herself up a bit. The top of the trolls head was in it's mouth. She was pretty sure that would have been tough for either Maxi or Burly to pull off. She fell back and breathed. Her body was wracked with pain. One arm was useless and broken while her leg was just as mangled. She was crying.

Maxi and Burly ran to her. Neither was sure how to help. Through her tears and sobs she told Maxi to grab some medicinal tablets from her pouch. She had made extra for this trip, and she was going to use a lot of it. He found them. He hovered waiting for further instruction but she addressed Burly instead. "Check on Glutimus, *cough* *sob* make sure he's ok and barricade the door." She was trying hard to keep herself calm and focused. She wasn't doing as great as she'd hoped. "Please tell me what to do Mya!" Maxi sounded almost as panicked as she had felt moments before. "Ok, just give me those tablets. Can you help me sit up?" As Maxi lifted her she yelped in pain. He had to stop himself from bracing her tighter. She ate the first two tablets she had. She let herself lean into his arms. It was going to take a while for the pain to subside.

Burly had barricaded the door and Glutimus was just sitting down in front of the crushed troll. Burly came back to Mya. "Alright lass, Glutimus is fine for now and I handled the door." Burly was pretty worried but he figured Maxi was going to lose it if anything else happened to her right now. "Ok," she inhaled sharply as she tried to sit up further. Maxi assisted her some more. "Grab the bed rolls and set up camp. I'm not going anywhere until my leg and arm aren't a total mess. Even with the herbs I brought, it's going to take some time." He nodded and took the supplies he needed and made camp in the room.

"Maxi," Mya spoke so softly he almost couldn't hear her. "There's something I want... that I need you to do."

...


	11. Chapter 10 - Aegis

Maxi leaned in. He knew the kind of pain she was in, but he never wanted to see her like this. While he waited for instructions, she sobbed a little. He felt torn apart seeing her like this. If the troll hadn't already been dead, he would have killed it twice over and made sure it felt every bit of pain before finishing it off. "Can you set me on one of the rolls, we need to hurry." Carefully but as quickly as he could he took her to a bed roll. "I need you to set my arm." Mya couldn't see it but Maxi's eyes were wide under his mask. "The medicine will heal me, but the bones in my arm aren't lined up right," she inhaled a bit sharply again. My foot and leg should be ok, it's mostly just cracks and fractures." She undid her belt. She was trying to take it off, so Maxi helped her. "BURLY!" She called him over almost sounding desperate. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he wanted to help too.

"Burly, can I ask you a favor?" She half sobbed out. "Of course, lass, what do ya need?" he was waiting. She handed him the belt, "please fold that twice in one section." Turning to Maxi, "I just need it straight ok? If we don't do it know, it wont heal right and I wont be able to use my arm properly." Burly stopped what he was doing. He realized what they were about to do. She grabbed the folded belt and put it in her mouth. She started crying, she couldn't stop. Grabbing Burly's hand and holding it tightly, she closed her eyes and continued to sob. Maxi looked down at her arm. She was right, it was angled in two different directions, in fact it was so bad he was surprised that the bone hadn't come through the skin. He didn't want to hurt her, but she was trusting him with this. "Mya..." he whispered her name and for a short moment, she calmed at hearing his voice. ~sNaP~ The room filled with muffled screams. After a couple minutes she calmed down. She took another medicine tablet to be safe. Her body was mostly numb at this point. She had stopped sobbing and her tears were drying, she was exhausted. Without much effort she fell asleep.

Maxi didn't want to leave her, but this room should be safe enough for the night. They had killed almost everything in their path and made sure nothing was getting through the door. There had been that other troll, but it had looked to be on the other side of some kind of bars or blockade, much like Barbella's cell. He decided they should be fine. Mya needed to sleep anyway. Getting up, he went over to the documents she had been looking over before. He wasn't really sure what a lot of it was. While he had always made an effort to keep his ear to the ground for news or try to pick up on new information, he was no scholar. What he did know was, as soon as Mya was recovered enough, he wanted to get her out of here. However they came all this way for plans and she'd be furious if they left without them and honestly, everything they risked would've been for nothing. He gathered up everything and neatly stacked it on the table. He turned his attention to the crates and chest and rummaged through for more documents or even anything they might find useful. Once everything was gathered, he placed them in both his and Glutimus's bags. He walked back over to Mya and placed his bed roll on the side of her that hadn't been severely damaged. Laying down next to her, he watched her mournfully until he fell asleep.

The next morning, Mya slowly woke up. Her entire right side was stiff and sore. She didn't want to move. Flashes from the fight yesterday came to the front of her mind. She breathed slowly and tried lifting her arm. It hurt a little, but it seemed mostly normal. She heard soft snoring, Maxi had slept next to her. She smiled looking back to her arm. He had straightened it alright, even if the pain was almost as bad as the initial break. Later on, when they were home she would have to thank him properly. Managing to sit herself up, she noticed all the guys were still asleep. Checking her leg and foot before standing, Mya moved over to where the papers were yesterday. Walking was a little awkward and not entirely comfortable but she managed. As she approached the tables, she realized everything was gone. 'WHAT? There were practically books of documents sitting here!', she thought to herself. Beginning to frantically search around she didn't understand where they could have gone. Hearing a loud snore from the direction of the guys, she looked over at Maxi and then noticed his bag had been stuffed to the brim and a piece of paper was sticking out. She giggled at the realization. Slowly moving back and sitting back down on her bed roll she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Despite everything, being near him was where she felt safest even in the middle of a grimy dungeon.

After a couple hours passed, the guys began waking up. After making sure Mya wasn't lying about her condition and she was really ok to move, they agreed to head out. They were going to need to get to a section of the fortress with no ceiling so they could use another chimera wing. They packed up and headed out, mindful of any potential monsters roaming this half of the fortress. She thanked the Goddess, most monsters weren't very bright. It was probably going to be a day or more before they bothered to check on this portion of the stronghold. Once they were in a section that opened to the sky, Mya used a wing. Maxi held her tight. She was fine enough for the flight, but she didn't want to stop him either. After getting back to Kol, she knew she was going to need a few days to fully recover. That worked out anyway, she had a LOT of papers and blueprints to shift through.

After arriving home and beginning her research, Glutimus had offered to help. He was pretty sure he heard Barbella mention something about the plans when they were first stolen. Maybe looking would jog his memory. Mya briefly recalled asking about her kidnapping and wondered if Glutimus ever even connected the dots with the designs and Barbella's kidnapping. 'Probably not' she thought. Regardless, Mya didn't think it would hurt to have him help and she got pretty tired reviewing documents for hours. A second set of eyes did no harm. Between long stints of studying, she would stretch her legs and walk out the odd numbness she would now get in her right leg if she sat for a while. A gift from her encounter with the troll. Being able to create healing items was a miracle, but ultimately it just sped up what the body would do naturally with enough time. It could also alleviate some other issues, but if the damage was too severe, their were still going to be scars of some fashion.

After a couple of days, she was pretty sure she found what she was looking for in the pile of research, but it was now early evening and she had skipped lunch. Mya was famished. She walked over to the kitchen. It was late enough, that she realized she missed dinner and would have to prepare something herself. She lit the wall torch and went into the cooking area and began to look for something to eat. She found some items to cook and had set everything out. Her arm was still a little sore and she stopped to rub it. That troll really did a number on her. Kol had some of the most powerful and frightening monsters she had ever encountered. She needed better equipment and a better way to deal with the larger fiends. Mindlessly rubbing her arm and completely lost in thought, she hadn't heard the door to the kitchen open softly.

She felt hands gently grab her shoulders and she jumped. Chuckling softly Maxi was behind her, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare ya." Relieved it was Maxi, she turned back to her food and was about to begin prepping her meal when she was lifted up. "Maxi! Put me down," she wasn't sure what he was doing but she was hungry and didn't appreciate it. "I'll make ya something." He smiled setting her down at the table. He walked over to the food she set out and started working. She just realized he wasn't wearing his mask again. She could see his soft, sandy colored hair and his hazel eyes. He had that defined jaw line and crooked but handsome nose. He started talking, breaking her focus on his face, "I saw lights down here at the kitchen. Figured ya finally tore yourself away from your research to get something to eat." He wasn't wrong. She was starving. Her stomach growled loudly. She blushed and he laughed. It reminded her of that night in the kitchen a couple weeks ago.

He cooked her a meal and let her eat in peace. But he hadn't left the room. She finished and took her plate to the sink and cleaned it. Drying it, then putting it away, she turned back to face his direction. He was all the way across the kitchen still at the table. Mya was feeling a bit lonely the last few days even with Glutimus helping, so having his company was nice. The silence was pretty distracting though, she wondered why he wasn't saying anything. He just sat and stared. It was like he was waiting for something. Finally, unable to take the silence she started to say something, "Maxi, about everything that happened..." she trailed off and was staring at the ground. She heard the chair move and looked up to see him walking over to her. Letting him approach, she opened her mouth to say something again but he stopped her.

He could move just a little faster than anyone might assume from a man with such a large build. He had his right hand against her cheek and his thumb softly placed over her mouth. His other arm was placed against the wall behind her to steady himself. This was similar to before, but Mya wasn't nearly as thrown off. She was nervous, but she didn't feel like she was going to faint or have her heart rip out of her chest. She could feel it thumping though, as his thumb softly began to rub her lips. She waited, he had obviously wanted to say or do something. He leaned in a bit closer. His eyes were now filled with concern. Finally after a few moments of simply staying such a close proximity to one another, he broke the silence.

"I can't stop ya." Then he went quiet. Mya was attempting to process what he meant before he said anything again. "Ya have a duty. A responsibility. I can't stop ya from Building or fighting." His eyes were filled with sadness as he continued to watch her. He could smell her, that delicate but alluring scent. She wasn't like anyone in the gang or even most of the people he'd met in his life. She was skilled and smart, maybe even smarter than anyone else he knew. Her skin was soft. He felt it under his hand and subdued an urge to touch more of her. Her eyes were that cool ashen color and he felt he could lose himself in them. He wanted to stroke her hair and hold her close, but knew he was already pushing boundaries.

"I was angry about what happened with that damn troll. I couldn't stop that disgusting beast from hurtin' ya. When I saw ya screamin' I—" he seemed to be unable to continue. She wasn't sure how to respond or what to say exactly, that night had been one of the most horrifying experiences of her life. "I saw red. Everything in me wanted the bastard dead. I was able to free you but Glutimus had finished the job." He looked away from her for a moment and then turned back and stared directly into her eyes. "I don't care how ya feel about me, but I'm not leaving your side. If ya even head out to "scout" or just to gather some furs, I'm comin' with ya. I won't let ya say no." He closed his eyes, events from the recent fight fresh in his mind. He looked almost like he was in pain.

Mya looked at him realizing while she had spent the last few days pouring over her research, he had been fighting with himself about her and keeping her safe. "Ok... I promise if I leave Kol for any reason, even just to wander around here, I'll bring you." She had considering arguing, but as she looked at him she realized she couldn't bring herself to tell him otherwise. There was no harm in having a bodyguard and she knew that he wasn't the only struggling with how he felt. After a long while, he had finally leaned back and dropped his hand from her face. "I'm sorry if I made ya uncomfortable. I only wanted to make sure ya heard what I had to say." He breathed in. "I'm sure it's obvious I've got a thing for ya, but I don't want ya to worry about me intruding on ya." Almost shamefully he turned his head. Mya hadn't indicated if she returned any of his feelings, only that the flirting made her feel awkward.

She hadn't said anything when he had admitted he cared for her. Believing it would be best to leave, he turned and started to the door. Snatching his hand, Mya stopped him. He turned back to see her cheeks had an attractive pink and was staring at the ground while holding his hand. "I... I'm not really good at this kind of thing but... I'm really glad you'll be with me." Her face flushed a darker shade of red. He smiled and squeezed her hand. He was about to move in closer, he wanted to see if maybe— "OI! WHAT'S GOIN' ON 'ERE!?" Burly burst in. A startled Mya pulled her hand back and faced away from the kitchen door as her face felt a newer rush of warmth.

She heard Maxi grumble under his breathe. He was clearly agitated about the interruption. "None o' yer damn business, THAT'S WHAT!" "Oooooh hoo hooo" Burly realized he had intruded on a bit of a special moment. "Well now... here I was thinking, it's a might bit late but I'm still hungry so I'd head on over for a snack. O' course I see the lights on and was hoping to find myself someone cooking, but seems like ya'll had a different kind of late night snack in mind. Hmmmm?" Burly was stifling a laugh. Mya wasn't sure she was ready for a confrontation. She rushed passed the guys and yelled back, "I've got a lot of work tomorrow, got to get some rest." She tore passed Burly hoping he wouldn't see her face.

"Ya damn ogre," spat Maxi. "Look mate, it wasn't like I was TRYIN' to butt in, ya'll just decided to use the kitchen. That ain't my fault." He crossed his arms and faced Maxi. "I don' have any problem with her and ya being a thing, but if it don' move as fast as ya'd like, don't take it out on me." Maxi didn't respond, he just walked out of the kitchen. As he walked back to his room he stared in the direction of Mya's bedroom and workshop. 'Would she have let me...?' his thoughts went back to her holding his hand. She hadn't exactly said she cared for him or looked at him in any meaningful way, but stopping him from leaving, blushing like she did, and at least saying she was happy to have him with her... maybe there was something more there and she just needed some time. Maxi would take that. He had already told himself even if she didn't feel the same, he be at her side to protect her regardless. They hadn't spent a lot of time together, but Maxi knew she was something special and he couldn't just stop the way he felt.

...


	12. Chapter 11 - Armament

Mya was good to her word, anytime she wanted to venture out, she found Maxi and let him know so he could tag along. Some trips were pretty uneventful, but he didn't mind. He was able to accomplish two goals this way. First, he could make sure nothing happened to her; and second, he was able to spend more time with her. She had been pouring over designs for some kind of new workstation. The tools from the design were new to Mya, so it was taking her some time to gather materials and create it. On one of their trips out, she even explained it was only the first part of solving the problem with getting Barbella out. The weapon they needed could only be constructed with the new workstation, so the process was taking longer than she had originally hoped. Maxi offered himself if she thought he could be useful in some capacity. She smiled at him and quietly commented that just having him around was already really nice and he didn't need to overwork himself for her. He chuckled and told her he didn't consider it work, if it was for her that is. She blushed. Maxi enjoyed making Mya flush with embarrassment. He knew something was there, but since he couldn't do much physically, he opted for complimentary or suggestive teasing.

As the two spent more time together, it had began to creep up on Mya that she wasn't just attracted to the man, he was growing on her. He didn't necessarily understand everything she would talk about or plans she might have, but he listened and he was able to even brainstorm a little with her. He liked cooking and he was quite interested in the new workstation she was building. She told him once it was done, he was more than welcome to try his hand at it. If he should come up with anything interesting and needed materials, to just let her know. After another week of gathering and building Mya had created the workstation and was now experimenting with it. She had to go back to studying since she needed to understand more about the weapon she was now building.

Mya sighed, exasperated. "Ya've come so far, what're ya getting all depressed for?" It was Glutimus. He was keeping tabs on the progress of her work. It had been quite a while since Kol was attacked and he was more than a little eager to save Barbella. "Oh, hey there Glutimus." She rummaged through her papers. "I guess this is just new for me. Most of the parts are new and the design is pretty foreign. I can tell this thing with be powerful so I have to take my time and be careful..." she paused for a moment then looked over at him. "But, I'm feeling pretty anxious. Barbella has been trapped in that hell-hole for a while now and I want to get her out of there soon." While Glutimus was always one to push for saving Barbella at any cost, he sympathized with her struggle. "Hmm, I'll admit lass, I'm not eager to die in that fortress if it all goes to shite because we read something wrong on those crazy papers o' hers." Mya smiled at him.

"Hey Glutimus, if you don't mind, I do have something I've been wanting to ask you." He turned and bobbed his head. "Remember when we were back in the fortress and the troll managed to grab my leg?" He nodded again. "Aye, what of it?" "Well, I remembered what you yelled as you killed it. How do you know that troll hurt Barbella?" He shifted his feet and leaned against the wall of the workshop. "His shin and his left arm." He looked up toward the ceiling, doing what he could to recall a memory. "When Kol was attacked back before ya came, that troll was one of the ones that came and destroyed the place. Mind ya there were a couple of them uglies, but I recognized that one." He only paused long enough to stand back up straight and move into the workshop further. "Barbella wasn't one to just quietly lay down and let the buggers have the place. She fought back. I remember her charging one of the fat fiends and cutting his arm and leg. It was enough that the thing yelled so loud my ears hurt." He crossed his arms and turned to Mya, "I know I'm scared o' the monsters. I know I don't help out as much as I could, but when I saw it and knew it was one o' the bastards that took her, I couldn't stop myself." Mya nodded and finally replied. "Well, I know I told you before but thanks again for helping save me Glutimus." He seemed a bit embarrassed and he might have even been a little flushed under his mask. "Yer welcome." He turned and left the workshop.

A couple days later right around dinner time, Mya burst into the kitchen. "I DID IT! I MADE THE WEAPON!" The gang was surprised by the sudden interruption. "OI!" Burly retorted, "I was trying to have me a private moment with ol' Maxi here! Try knocking lass!" Mya blushed and Maxi punched Burly's arm causing him to yelp. Glutimus started to say something, "Did I miss some—" Mya cut him off to change the subject. "I've got it set up outside. It's a cannon. It basically shoots large metal spheres. The force is crazy strong. It'll rip right through what's keeping Barbella locked up!" The guys were pretty excited. "So are we going to go and get Barbella?" Glutimus was standing and basically demanding an answer. "YES! I can shrink the weapon just like everything else, so travelling with it shouldn't be a problem. In fact, I don't think anything in that fortress could stop it. I bet it could even really hurt a troll!" Responding to her glee, Glutimus shouted in excitement.

"Well 'old on there," Maxi began, "I don't think rushing off right now is a great idea." Mya laughed. "Of course not. It'll be evening soon but we can head out tomorrow." The guys agreed tomorrow was better. They were going to get their leader back from the monsters and finally start the real fight to take back Kol. After the commotion died down, Mya went to clean up her work and then headed back to the kitchen for dinner. While everyone was excited about the next rescue trip, there was a bit of a somber air in the kitchen. The last trip hadn't exactly gone to plan. While they had a major advantage this time around, no one wanted to deal with another troll if they could avoid it.

The Burly and Glutimus finished up and headed to bed. Maxi was putting away the dishes and cleaning up. Mya now satisfied from another amazing meal Maxi had cooked, she decided to chat a little. "I hope you know, you're easily one of the best cooks I know." She started chuckling a bit. "I had this friend back in Cantlin, she did everything with the best of intentions but she couldn't cook to save her life. She added dirt and male slime fluid to one of her stews once. Hahah I'm pretty sure Rollo almost threw up just smelling it!" She had a slightly distant look in her eyes, smiling as she remembered her time in Cantlin. Almost sad to tear her from her happy memories, Maxi chimed in, "I can't say at any point I've been desperate enough to eat dirt." "Hahaha no, I haven't either." Mya was giggling again. He looked at her longingly from under his mask. Watching her, he saw that her eyes sparkled when she laughed. He wanted to see them like that more often.

As he finished cleaning, Mya had come into the cooking area. "Is there anything else I can help with? You're always cooking and I feel guilty I don't help." He turned and chuckled. "No. I already told ya when I first got back to Kol, ya do plenty around the town as it is, the least I can do is cook. That also includes the cleaning." She seemed a little disappointed at his response. "But..." he started to speak and faltered a little before continuing, "if ya want to do something for me, I'd appreciate it." Mya's face brightened, "what do you need?" He wanted to pick her up and hold her close but he knew that wasn't going to happen. "I was just hoping we could stay here a bit longer and chat... ya know with tomorrow and everything." Mya realized he was worried about the trip. After she got hurt, he wasn't eager to have her travelling there again. "I'd love to," she smiled at him.

"So anything specific you wanted to discuss, or were you hoping to trap Burly after his comment earlier?" She giggled and blushed. She had been embarrassed to say that, but it was always funny to see the guys poke at each other. "Nah, I was just hopin' to spend a little more time with ya, is all." Her face warmed further. They chatted about lots of things, the gang, Kol and even different ways to cook a steak. They hadn't realized it, but they had stayed there for a couple hours just talking with one another. "It's gettin' pretty late, it's probably best if ya get some rest." Maxi reluctantly decided they should end their time together for today. Mya sat still on the other side of the table. She had looked down and Maxi wondered if something was wrong.

In Mya's head, there was a battle raging. 'He's so nice and he likes me. He's even made it clear he doesn't think I'm ugly. But I don't know what to do... Should I say something? Should I do something? What if tomorrow ends up worse than last week?" She frowned. Maxi didn't like to see her frown, "something wrong? If ya don't want to sleep I'm not making ya." He chuckled. "O-oh, n-no. I was just thinking is all, I am pretty tired actually." She got up and pushed her chair back under the table. She started to walk to the door but stopped as she reached Maxi.

He turned his head to see why she stopped. She was looking down again and biting her lip. "Ya sure everythin's alright?" Quietly Mya turned to him and she reached out to Maxi's face. He didn't move. He had no idea what she was doing. She reached passed his face and felt the back of his neck. She was undoing the clasps on his mask. He froze. His stomach bubbled in anticipation of whatever she was doing. He had always been the one to make a move into her personal space, but here late tonight, she was coming into his. He felt the mask loosen. He was stiff, terrified that if he moved or made a noise he might scare her off like a frightened animal.

Mya was taking every ounce of willpower to stop herself from shaking. She didn't know what she was doing exactly, but she knew she needed to do something. Anything. Instinctively, she had reached out and undid his mask. Deep under her stomach she felt a pleasant but unfamiliar sensation. She lifted his mask and rolled it until his mouth was exposed. Since Maxi had still been sitting at the table, he was at a good height for her to do this. Still, as tall as he was, she was only a head or so taller even standing. Once the mask was pulled up and she could see his lips, she lightly touched them with her thumb. Much like the night when Maxi demanded to be her bodyguard.

He could smell her. She stood so close. It was almost intoxicating. She was also touching him. Her hand was soft and gentle despite the thin callouses from her work. He was still baffled by the whole situation and still to worried moving might make her back track. He swore to the Goddess if either of the guys came back to the kitchen, he'd murder them in their sleep. She didn't really move much but he felt her rubbing his lips. He wanted so bad interact with her but continued to suppress it. His stomach was twisting. Finally after what seemed like forever, she started to move closer.

Mya leaned down slightly and didn't dare to try and look into the darkened eye coverings on Maxi's mask. She was anxious enough as it is, she didn't need to see him staring. Her other hand made it's way to his face and she held him there for only a moment. Slightly angling her head, she leaned in until her lips were covering his. Maxi was completely still. He wasn't even breathing. She was kissing him and he couldn't move. As he realized she was starting to lean slightly more into him. His fear of her fleeing faded and he wrapped his closer arm around her waist. She was a little startled but didn't pull her lips from his. He pressed his lips back against hers. He was easy and gentle, but she knew he was returning her affection. Maxi stood without breaking contact. Using his other arm he picked her up and carried her to the counter. She moved her arms around his neck as he carried her. Sitting her down he decided that just for tonight, he'd break his promise to leave her alone.

Mya's arms slid back down and now rested on his chest. Feeling his hands on her jaw, he pulled back from her ever so slightly. "I hope ya don't mind, but I was hopin' for somethin' a little different." He returned to her but instead of simply pressing against her, she felt him him her mouth. It was warm and wet. It was definitely not how she had ever kissed before. She could feel herself uncontrollably lean into him and kiss back. Her arms slid up around his neck again and she held him tight. He put his arms around her torso and held her tightly with no intention of letting her go. Maxi knew he took more than she planned to give but it was so hard to control himself. She tasted sweet and she was in his arms. He could feel himself craving more, but he knew this was new for her. It was fine though, he hadn't expected anything like this, especially not tonight.

Neither of them were sure how long they had been like that, but finally Mya had pulled away. Her face red, more from excitement than embarrassment, and breathing heavier than normal. "Sorry... I guess I got a little carried away..." Maxi apologized and started to pull his mask back down when Mya grabbed his hands. He released the mask and she grabbed the leather and took it off. "I like seeing you." She was still flushed from their display of affection. He smiled, leaned in and kissed her neck. He stayed, breathing against her skin. "You're tryin' to make things harder for me aren't ya?" He whispered. She stuttered out a repose, "I just— I didn't want something to happen tomorrow and you not know... that's all." He squeezed her tight. "I won't let anythin' happen to ya tomorrow. I swear." She hugged him back, "I know you won't."

Maxi didn't want to let go but he knew they couldn't stay in the kitchen forever, even if every cell in his body screamed to him that they could. After releasing her and helping her off the counter, he wanted desperately to embrace her again. "Would you mind walking with me to my room?" He almost choked. 'Calm down Maxi,' he thought, 'she's not that kind o' gal.' "O' course. Ya could ask me for anything and I'd do whatever I could." She looked away smiling and reaching out to grab his hand. They left the kitchen in silence and walked to her room.

Standing outside her door, he noticed it was brighter than normal. It was a full moon and he could clearly see all around. He turned to look at Mya before she left. She was so beautiful in the moonlight. "Sooo uh... I guess this is good nigh' then, yeah?" He hadn't felt this awkward in a long time. Mya giggled and it made his heart skip. "I'm supposed to the one who's nervous." She was still giggling with that sparkle coming back. "Right, well, it's hard to keep calm with such a lovely lass on my arm." He glanced at her, seeing her blush intensely again. "Maxi?" He turned to face her. "Can you lean down for a second?" He obliged. She lean toward him and kissed his cheek. "Good night Maxi." She let go of his arm and went into her room.

"Cor' Blimey! How am I supposed to sleep after that!?" Maxi was muttering in his room as he paced. He had almost pushed for more when they were in the kitchen. He had never felt that kind of overwhelming urge before. He thought he might lose it. He tried lifting some of the dumb bells Mya had made for him. He paced for several more minutes but it was no good. He knew he was going to be up a bit longer and it was going to be Mya he thought about while tiring himself out. He hadn't had a need to restort to it often, but after spending so much time with Mya, it was all he could do some nights to keep sane. And tonight, it might not even be enough. For once, he was glad his room that was a bit separated from other living quarters or someone might hear him.

Mya was lying in bed struggling to sleep herself. She had never kissed anyone like that. Her heart pounded and raced while she was with him. When she had finally stopped, she wasn't even sure if she wanted to end it. She felt herself yearning for him and to feel his touch again. She grabbed her pillow and covered her face. She screamed into it with frustration. So many new sensations and feeling were welling up and she had no clue how to handle it. She knew she was going to toss and turn tonight. She was actually really glad she had built her room down by the workshops and not by every one else, if she needed to get up and work to tire herself out then she could.

...


End file.
